This coming Saturday, Jan. 21, people across the United States will be participating in the Women’s March on Washington. This march is planned to take place in major cities all around the U.S., the day after President-elect Donald Trump is set to be sworn into office.

The goal of the Women’s March on Washington is to make heard the voices of those threatened by the rhetoric of the winning candidate of this past election cycle: women, Muslims, members of the LGBTQ+ community and many more.

“It is also a statement that equality matters to more than just ‘feminists,’” said Beth Martin Birky, professor of English and director of women and gender studies. “The march is also a direct response to erosion of equality in public policy at the federal and state levels. Following Trump’s inauguration, the march is also a statement that we will continue to defend those rights, even in a political environment where women are objectified, denigrated and dismissed.”

Birky is planning on making the trip to Indianapolis this coming Saturday for the march and is organizing for a group of those interested to join her.

“I chose to march in Indiana, rather than D.C. or Chicago, partly because of convenience,” she said. “But marching in Indiana also makes a unique statement about what is happening here. Governor Pence and the Indiana legislators have shown that they intend to remove or limit women’s basic rights in Indiana: restricting women’s health care and social services with the defunding of Planned Parenthood, allowing businesses to refuse service to people based on their sexual orientation, to name a few issues.”

Of course, not everyone can make the weekend trip for the all-day march. To those who cannot attend, Birky affirms that there are still ways to lend support to the cause through educating yourself.

Finding ways in which one can identify the inequalities in their own lives, as well as being informed in the ways the certain public policies affect different people in your community--for instance, women having much more limited access to birth control due to Planned Parenthood restrictions.

Birky and other marchers will be leaving from the Physical Plant on Jan. 20 at 7:00 a.m. and returning around 5:30 p.m. that same day. For those interested in going on that bus, contact Beth Martin Birky at bethmb@goshen.edu and have a $10 deposit.