A Connecticut contingent marched in opposition to the impending second term of President Donald J. Trump in Washington, D.C., Saturday, carrying signs and expressing concern about the fate of racial minorities, the LGBTQ+ community, women, immigrants and the environment over the coming four years.  The People’s March, organized by a coalition of nonprofits including the Sierra Club, Planned Parenthood and Time to Act, drew an estimated 50,000 demonstrators to the nation’s capital days before Trump’s second inauguration. Under gray skies and a light drizzle, a multigenerational crowd — from babies in strollers to senior citizens — marched to the Lincoln Memorial, chanting intermittently, “This is what democracy looks like!”  Kelly Humiston organized a group of Connecticut residents to attend the People’s March in Washington, D.C., on Saturday. Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror Like the weather, there was a steeliness to the mood of those gathered. “Whose rights?” a caller yelled. “Our rights!” the crowd responded.  Kelly Humiston, a Norwalk resident, said she woke up the morning after the election feeling like she had to march. “We’re just so outraged, and I’m disappointed, sad, stressed out,” Humiston said. “I don’t think anybody’s going into this expecting an overnight change, but I feel like every act of resistance builds confidence in others to do the same.” Humiston organized a group of about a dozen Connecticut residents, through word of mouth and social media, and rented a van to drive the roughly 300 miles to D.C. for Saturday’s event. “Hell hath no fury like a woman who fears her bodily autonomy is in jeopardy,” she said. Chris Fedak, Humiston’s hair stylist who also rode to D.C. in the van, said she was thinking of her daughter, who turned 29 on Saturday. “I feel like I’m marching for my daughter’s rights on the day that I gave birth to her, and it’s an honor,” Fedak said. Isa Ortigosa, of Norwalk, CT, attended the People’s March in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Jan. 17, 2025. The march was the same weekend as President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration. Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror Isa Ortigosa, who lives in Norwalk, said she believes her rights are at stake. “I’m here to have my own body and my own voice,” she said. “To speak for Connecticut, I think we have good legislation regarding women’s health, but [this] is about individuals’ actual choices.” Many protestors wore pink knit caps Saturday, a callback to the 2017 Women’s March, which drew nearly 500,000 people to Washington, D.C., the day after Trump’s first inauguration. Humiston was channeling some of that energy Saturday, noting, “I’m marching for all women. I’m marching for my two nieces in their 20s, for their reproductive freedoms.” Vendor Jayson Moore had positioned his cart alongside the route of the march, but the roughly three dozen “People’s March” T-shirts he was selling went nearly untouched. Business was better during the 2017 march, he said. “That was a great weekend.” Moore added that he expects to sell around 150 red “Make America Great Again” hats during the inauguration festivities Monday. Stamford resident Flor Vasquez took a day off from work to attend the march — the first protest she’s ever participated in — because she felt particularly perturbed that “a criminal could be accepted as a president.” Flor Vasquez took a day off from work to attend the march. Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror “It should be a concern for everyone, because when the corruption starts from the top, nothing down is going to be good,” Vasquez said. “I wish I could do more. I wish I could be more vocal. I wish I could do something else.” Kathy Pia, of Stamford, said her biggest concern about a second Trump presidency is what she sees as a “lack of empathy,” adding, “He loves to tear us apart. America’s supposed to be a melting pot, a place where it’s OK to be different, a place where it’s OK to be your true self, and he’s trying to take that back.”  Pia said she has two sons who are now 20 and 23, “and they grew up in a country where they’re comfortable with people who have different ideas, and they don’t judge.” She said she’s worried about the nation’s leaders promoting a version of masculinity that she sees as toxic. “This whole thing about men not being real men unless they’re angry and fight, that’s not what masculinity is about. It’s about being kind and loving,” she said.  A waiter gives marchers a thumbs up from inside a restaurant, as the People’s March passes by. Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror In Connecticut Saturday, New London and New Milford hosted two smaller People’s March demonstrations. Another protest, organized by a separate set of organizations, is slated for Monday in New Haven. Humiston said she felt fortunate to live in Connecticut. “We’ve got a really good track record and a really good slate of public officials in office that are doing their best to legislate and protect women’s rights and a lot of the other issues, the environment, the climate, immigration,” she said. Chris Fedak said she felt energized by the People’s March. Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror Fedak, reflecting after the march, said she felt energized. “The camaraderie of men, women, different colors, different races, has been empowering and beautiful,” she said. As organizers packed up and the crowd dispersed Saturday afternoon, the landscape in front of the Lincoln Memorial notably shifted. A man wielding a megaphone yelled “Trump!” at departing rally-goers. “Let me rile them up a little!” he called to a friend. Within an hour, red “Make America Great Again” hats outnumbered pink knit caps. New Jersey resident Howard Bunn watches the People’s March from a distance while wearing a red Trump hat. “I think we’re ready for a change. We had four years one way, we’ll do it another way for a little bit, see what happens.” Credit: Shahrzad Rasekh / CT Mirror