Thousands Flock To Capitol For 3rd Annual Women's March

By Matt Kling
Published: Monday, January 21, 2019 - 10:24am
Updated: Monday, January 21, 2019 - 10:25am

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Matt Kling/KJZZ
Women's March participants hold up signs near Arizona Capitol, January 19, 2019.

Women’s marches took place in cities across the country Saturday morning, including in Phoenix, where an estimated 6,000+ participants gathered by the Capitol.

The Phoenix Women's March began with a series of speeches from a diverse group of women's leaders before marchers took to the streets.

Eva Burch, one of the event's organizers since the first march in 2017, said the official theme of the day was "Rising Together."

"That stemmed from all these successes that we just had in this recent election cycle," Burch said, "and looking at the new legislative session and what we’re trying to accomplish and just trying to get all these initiatives to work together towards common goals."

One piece of legislation that marchers were pushing for is the Equal Rights Amendment, which bans discrimination on the basis of sex. The bill to ratify it is in the state House and, if ratified, Arizona would become the 38th state to do so, which would officially add the amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Among the marchers Saturday was Phoenix mayoral candidate Kate Gallego, who if elected, would mean Phoenix would be the largest U.S. city governed by a woman.

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