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News :: Gender & Sexuality |
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Thousands march across Brooklyn Bridge to support women's right to choice |
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by Lauren Anzaldo
Email: compassiontothecore (nospam) hotmail.com |
28 Aug 2004
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As part of the week of events protesting the Republican National Convention, thousands of pro-choice supporters marched from Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn across the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan on Saturday, Aug. 28. |
NEW YORK CITY -- Carrying signs saying "I Love Pro-Choice New York" and "Reproductive Rights are Human Rights," at least 4,000 people -- many dressed in pink -- marched from Cadman Plaza in Brooklyn to lower Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday.
The march was part of a week of events protesting the Republican National Convention, which begins on Monday. Thousands of people have traveled to New York to participate in demonstrations, marches, workshops and other programs as an alternative to a government agenda that disrespects life around the world.
The March for Women's Lives, a followup the march in Washington, D.C., in February that brought 1.1 million people to the Mall to support a woman's right to choose, was organized by NARAL, Planned Parenthood, the New York ACLU, Physicians for Reproductive Freedom and other organizations.
One of the announces at the march stressed that the movement for women's reproductive freedom must be an international movement to secure choice for all women.
Women of all ages turned out to the march. Many wore pink or purple, and "This is what a feminist looks like" shirts were popular.
Some brought their families and children. One mom had placed a sign on her child's stroller that read "I am the happy product of a planned pregnancy." Another infant wore a "Baby By Choice" sticker on her shirt. One group of people held a sign declaring themselves a "Family for Choice."
Marchers gathered in the plaza in Brooklyn around 11 a.m., listened to speakers and picked up fliers for other events this week. At about 11:30, marchers began moving over the Brooklyn Bridge footpath. It took more than two hours for the entire line of people to march over the bridge. The large number of people and the narrowness of the stairway leading up to the bridge caused the delay.
When marchers arrived on the other side of the bridge, they dispersed throughout lower Manhattan. Clusters of women wearing pink and carrying signs from the march were visible throughout Manhattan for the rest of the day. |
This work is in the public domain. |
