People's March draws hundreds of demonstrators to Portland City Hall

Performer Viva leads the march with chants as the People’s March moves along Congress Street on Saturday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

Hundreds of people marched from Portland’s Monument Square to City Hall, calling for equal rights Saturday as a part of the People’s March, just days before the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

Formerly the Women’s March, People’s Marches took place all over the U.S. on Saturday, including a rally in Washington, D.C.

People’s March organizer Dania Bowie, development and communications coordinator at the Maine Women’s Lobby, said the goal of the event was to demonstrate that “community connection is anti-fascist.”

A large crowd participates in the People’s March in protest of Trump’s inauguration by marching down Congress Street on Saturday. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Portland Press Herald

“It is in collective action that we make bigger differences in our own backyards,” Bowie said in an interview.

The Ideal Maine Social Aid and Sanctuary Band played as protesters gathered in Monument Square with homemade signs and pink hats.

Marchers Melissa Grabler, of South Portland, and her friend Brooke Gordon, of Westbrook, said they wanted to support the Portland march since they couldn’t make it down to the demonstration in Washington, D.C.

Grabler said she was marching “for women’s rights, for trans rights, for immigrants, for people that feel that their voices aren’t being heard, and that the incoming administration has not made a priority.”

Once demonstrators made it to the steps of City Hall, a slate of speakers called for reproductive rights, racial and gender equity, LGBTQ+ and disability rights and an end to violence in Gaza, among other issues.

City Councilor April Fournier opened the speeches with a call to action.