Thousands of women rally in New York against Trump’s policies

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NEW YORK:  Thousands of women mostly wearing red, attended a rally in New York and Washington on Wednesday to protest against President Donald Trump s policies toward women on the International Women s Day.

In New York, nearly 2,000 people gathered on an unseasonably warm day at the edge of Central Park two blocks from Trump Tower, the Republican president’s long-standing New York home and headquarters of his property company.

Red was everywhere, in a hat, bandana or coat, while others wore the pink “pussy hats” that came to symbolise the giant women s march on Washington the day after Trump s January 20 inauguration.

From the podium, Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour and a range of other community activists exhorted demonstrators to “keep resisting” and “keep motivated.” Arielle Datz, who works in publishing, said she took the day off — dubbed “Day without a Woman” — to take part in the demonstration and described the speeches as “very inspiring.”

Many men also were protesting, such as Corey Ford, who closed his small venture capital firm to take to the streets. “Fifty percent of our team, eight employees, and 50 percent of the CEOs of our companies are women,” he said. “This is a women s demo, anti-Trump is part of it but it’s not all of it.”

In Washington, at Lafayette Park across from the White House, many of the several hundred demonstrators carried signs decrying Trump s order blocking US aid to foreign nonprofits that provide or actively promote abortions.

“Donald Trump has got to go!” and “This is what democracy looks like!” the crowd chanted.

Plenty of anger was also directed at other Trump administration policies.