As the “Women’s March on Washington” happens in the nation’s capitol tomorrow, similar events are planned in cities around the county.
A Facebook page for a “Women’s March Iowa” indicates the event will begin at 10 a.m. at the statehouse. Shirley Vermace is organizing a Women’s March in Decorah.
“If we have a local march, more people can attend more marches by having them in local cities and bringing those issues right into the Main Streets of the heartland,” Vermace says.
The “Women’s March” movement began on Facebook after Donald Trump’s election in November. Organizers say their top issues are equal pay for women and defending Planned Parenthood. Buses have been organized to shuttle women from Cedar Rapids to Des Moines for the Women’s March at the statehouse. Vermace, the organizer of a similar event in Decorah, says she did it to give a voice to women who can’t make the trip to events in cities like Des Moines or Minneapolis.
“These issues affect women in rural Iowa,” Vermace says. “They affect women and children in rural Minnesota.”
According to the website set up by organizers of the March in Washington, there are “sister” marches planned tomorrow in Dubuque, Harpers Ferry and Iowa City as well as Decorah and Des Moines.
(Reporting by Darin Swenson, KDEC, Decorah)