Washington: Donald Trump's ascendancy to the White House has been met with a tidal wave of peaceful protest across the country, with hundreds of thousands flooding Washington DC and huge crowds in other cities across the United States and the world expressing anger, disgust and defiance at the new American president and demanding equal rights for all.
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The Women's March on Washington DC, expected to be the largest on Saturday, is underway in the national capital, with huge crowds spilling from the designated rally area to the south of the Capitol onto the National Mall and into surrounding streets, with thousands still pouring in even hours after the rally began at 10am.
MSNBC estimated half a million people were at the Washington DC march by 1pm. By mid-morning, far more people had jammed the capital's public transport system than the number who had attended the inauguration the day before. The Washington DC Metro said 275, 000 trips were taken before 11am on Saturday, compared to just 193, 000 on Friday.
More than 600 marches are taking place across the United States on Saturday to protest the new president, with estimates of around 150, 000 people in Chicago, and up to 100, 000 people also taking to the streets in London.
The same area surrounding the Capitol which had been a sea of supporters of the new president wearing red "Make America Great Again" caps the day before was replaced by a sea of protesters, mostly women, wearing knitted pink beanies, an unofficial symbol of the march.
Women and men, young and old, marched with placards - wry and defiant- hoisted above their heads bearing slogans like "Small hands off our public schools", "Make America think again", "We shall overcomb" and "If my kid can't get away with saying things like that, neither should you."
Jenny Southlynn was among the busloads of women who descended on the city throughout Saturday morning. She came in a convoy of three buses from Illinois, that left at 5pm on Friday night and drove over 1000 kilometres all night to be at the protest.
"It's such a cliche but this is what democracy looks like," she said, standing on the National Mall amid a vast crowd of protesters. "This is more than half the country that's against him."
"It's about showing that solidarity and saying everyone's life matters," a fellow marcher from Illinois, Carrie Verner, said.
Despite the crowding, and the fact few people could get anywhere near the stage to hear the line-up of speakers and performers, the mood was jubilant.
Patricia Bennett, 68, flew from Fresno, California on the opposite side of the continent with her friends Patricia Wolk, 83 and Kay Pitts, 82, to be at the march, on a plane filled with marchers.
Standing in that vast sea of women, she said, lifted her spirits.
"It gives me hope that enough people are willing to stand up."
But they held real fears about what lay ahead for their country, on issues such as women's access to abortion, healthcare and rights for the LGBT community.
"We thought some of these issues were settled 50 years ago," said Bennett. "How can we still be talking about women's reproductive rights?"
"I just can't fathom going backwards, in all these ways I do not believe the majority want to happen."
Donald Trump has pledged to appoint Supreme Court justice who will overturn Roe vs. Wade, the landmark decision legalising abortion in the US.
A range of activists, community leaders and celebrities addressed the rally, though most the crowd was too far from the stage and speakers to hear.
Scarlett Johansson said she feared her own daughter could grow up in a country where her daughter "did not have the right to make choices for her body and her future that your daughter Ivanka has been privileged to have."
"I ask you to support all women and our fight for equality in all things including the fight to be recognised as individuals who know better for ourselves what is right for our bodies better than any elected official."
Activist and filmmaker Michael Moore expressed disgust at the new president's pledge to end "American carnage".
"We are here to vow to end the Trump carnage," he said.
Hillary Clinton tweeted a message of support to the march on Saturday, writing: "Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we're always Stronger Together".
While the public transport system in DC had worked smoothly on inauguration day, there were lengthy queues at Metro stations from early on Saturday morning, with people turned away at some stations and advised by staff to walk long distances from the suburbs.
smh.com.au