Women’s March on Washington’s sister march set for Idaho Falls

The Women’s March on Washington is a global movement and while the main event will happen in Washington D.C., a smaller sister march will happen in Idaho Falls.

The national website said there are over 650 sister marches that about 1 million people will participate in worldwide. More than 200,000 marchers are expected in Washington D.C. — where the main march is taking place.

The organizers of the Idaho Falls sister march said the main purpose is to raise awareness of women’s rights because they are also human rights.

“The purpose of the march has grown and evolved. It’s to raise awareness of these issues. We have issues here in the Unites States of inequality and we have also issues around the world of inequality. And this is to kind of raise awareness that, yeah, we have come very far in the last 150 years. But, we’re still not there and this is kind of a reminder and a call to citizens and to our leaders that we need to work together and continue to move forward,” said Miranda Marquit, a co-organizer for the sister march in Idaho Falls.

The creation of the Women’s March on Washington had a global ripple effect.

“It sort of ballooned as people wanted to express solidarity with the aims of the Women’s March, but weren’t able to get to Washington. So all over the United States and, actually, all over the world people are having these marches in solidarity and expressing a desire to raise awareness of women’s rights as human rights,” Marquit said.

However, Marquit and the other organizers have noticed some opposition since creating the Idaho Falls sister march.

“We haven’t been seeing a whole lot of push-back. There have been some low-level rumblings about maybe some people are interested in holding a counter-demonstration. And honestly, that’s fine. That’s their right. So I welcome the chance to talk to people who think differently from me and to gain a better understanding of their thinking and why they don’t like what we’re saying,” Marquit said.

Marquit said the march was not made to take a political stance. She said this is a non-partisan march for the push for women’s rights and equality around the world.

“That’s not a partisan issue — that’s a human issue. And this is a reminder to call on people of all parties, all political persuasions that we do need to work together and we do need to remember that we still have a ways to go,” Marquit said.

The sister march in Idaho Falls will happen along side the march happening in Washington D.C., both beginning at 10 a.m. The Idaho Falls march will start on the pier at Snake River Landing, go up Capital Ave., and end at the Unitarian Universalist Church on E Street.

There are currently other sister marches planned in Pocatello, Ketchum, Driggs, Boise, Moscow and Sandpoint. If you would like to get involved and march Saturday morning, visit https://www.womensmarch.com/sisters