A group of Nashvillians have planned to join the Hundreds of thousands of women who will be walking throughout Washington D.C. on Saturday for the unprecedented Women March on Washington rally,
Several buses from Nashville will leave Friday morning to join the crowd.
Participants said they’re hoping to send a bold message to the new government on the first day Donald Trump takes office – that women’s rights are human rights. They also plan to march to defend the most discriminated groups they feel were attacked during the Trump’s presidential campaign.
“There have been a lot of people who have fought very hard for LGBT rights, for women's rights to choose, for immigrants’ rights, for Muslim rights, and I'm not going to stand by and watch those communities be fearful of what could happen with the upcoming administration,” said Nashville resident Beth Joslin Roth said.
The night after Trump was elected, a woman in Hawaii posted on Facebook and asked if women could march in Washington on Inauguration Day. The question created the rally.
Wendy Timmons will be among 54 people leaving Nashville Friday morning.
"I can no longer be silent. I have to use my voice now and I have to use it for myself and for my two daughters who are 12 and 13 and they're going on the march as well. They're also very strong, opinionated, young women and I want to encourage that and let them know that their voice is important and that no one can damper it," she said.
Beth Joslin Roth of Nashville said she doesn’t want the progress made in the last several decades, especially the last 8 years, be taken away.
"I see this march as just an opportunity to come together and make a statement but more importantly to go back to their individual communities and learn how to get engaged," Roth said.
Pam Kidd of Nashville said she’s excited to march in the rally with her daughter and granddaughter. She doesn’t recall something like this happening throughout her life.
“People are on fire, and I think that's a wonderful, wonderful thing to see and I think that will, that will make a lasting impact," she said.
Katie Smith lives in north central Alabama and decided to join the group heading to D.C.
Smith works with her local Girls Scouts of America group and doesn’t want young girls to be afraid of how Donald Trump spoke about women during his campaign. She plans to march with her husband.
"Feminism isn’t a women’s only club. Men can and absolutely should be feminists, and I never would have married a man who didn't identify as a feminist, so yeah, he is absolutely marching right alongside me," Smith said.
A report done on the march projects that 81 percent of travelers to Washington this week are women.
