Women's March On Colorado Turnout 'Rivals' Last Year's 150,000
DENVER (CBS4) - Marchers from across the state and beyond took to the streets of downtown Denver Saturday for the second annual Women's March on Colorado.
The march is part of a nationwide movement for women's rights and equality.
"Every day when we turn on the news, we are reminded why we need to come together," said Denver Mayor Michael Hancock in an opening rally. "We're proud to call ourselves Americans. We're also proud of those who have come here seeking the opportunity for the dreams and the hopes of being American."
150,000 people marched to stand up for their sisters, mothers, grandmothers, and daughters –- along with the rights they feel they deserve.
"Women's rights are humans' rights," said Keely Cambridge, who traveled to her native Colorado from her new home in Arizona to participate. "Humans' rights are women's rights… the right to make our own decision with our own body. You know, not having somebody in the Capitol or on the senate telling me that I can't take birth control."
Instead of cars, the busy blocks filled with people and signs. Many of the signs' messages punted at President Donald Trump.
"I am marching today for the impeachment of Mr. Trump," said Lynette Simmons, who is retired from working 25 years in the construction industry. "So I know what it is to hope that you'll get equal pay for equal work. And that has not happened in that 25-years. It has never happened."
"We want to push forward. We don't want to go back. As a woman of color, what I'm seeing happening in my country today scares me," Debra Carter, a Colorado resident, told CBS4's Melissa Garcia.
She wants to see equality not only in the workplace, but also outside of it.
"Women have been denigrated and degraded and vilified for much too long," Carter said. "We need to stand up and our voices need to be heard."
PHOTO GALLERY: Women's Marches In Denver & Across The Country
Women were not the only marchers making their voices heard.
"This is what democracy looks like," said Sam Andrews, a young man studying in his junior year at a Boulder high school.
"If we detriment and hold back half of the entire human population, we're holding ourselves back," Andrews said.
At least nine post-march meetups are scheduled for Sunday, January 21 at various locations throughout Colorado.
Activists and organizers will meet informally to discuss plans for the upcoming November 2018 U.S. election. All 435 seats in House of Representatives and a third of the Senate will be contested.
Melissa Garcia has been reporting for CBS4 News since March 2014. Find her bio here, follow her on Twitter @MelissaGarciaTV, or send your story idea to mkgarcia@cbs.com.
