Ogden • Last year, when Christine Provence couldn’t attend the Ogden Women’s March, she was disappointed to have missed an opportunity to speak out about a subject important to her.
This year, she made a point to attend.
“I support women’s rights and know what it’s like to not get equal pay and equal opportunities,” the Pleasant View resident said. While the country has made progress in many areas of equality, “it’s been slow and I don’t want to see it go backwards.”
Provence was one of more than 200 women, men and children to attend the Northern Utah Women’s March at the Ogden Municipal Center, one of many that took place in Utah and around the country on the one-year anniversary of President Donald Trump’s inauguration.
While smaller in size, the Ogden event was reminiscent of 2017 with many attendees wearing pink, pointy-eared “pussyhats” — which has become a symbol for women’s rights. Dozens of people carried signs that bashed Trump, the Republican-led Congress and the GOP’s stance on everything from immigration and health care to Friday’s government shutdown.
Many men, like Michael Brumbaugh of Ogden, came to show support for the cause.
“I believe in equality and women’s rights, and the current quote-unquote leadership in our country makes it harder,” he said. “It’s nice to see solidarity, and I hope women feel support when they see men here.”
Most speakers at the noon event talked about the importance of joining community boards and commissions and running for political office.
“We need to stand up against hate and bigotry,” organizer Amy Wicks said. “We need to make sure that the people running for office represent us and our values.
“We’re in this together and only through love and humanity will we move forward.”
After Trump was elected in 2016, Stacy Palen said she “just couldn’t sit by and watch all these things happen without doing something.”
This past year, she made an unsuccessful run for mayor of Marriott-Slaterville. As a liberal, female, astrophysicist in Utah, she knew she was the underdog — but she ran anyway.
“There is a reason to run, even if you don’t win,” she told the crowd. She said she was able to debate her opponent on several important issues — like climate change — and create a more balanced two-party system, which often is lacking in this Republican-dominated state.
Finally, 17-year-old Zach Thomas, who isn’t even old enough to vote, came wearing a Black Lives Matter T-shirt. He encouraged everyone to support not just women’s rights, but human rights.
“It’s our responsibility as humans to stand with other and to push good, not hate,” he said. “We want all people to feel free and safe.”
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