Neil Young Joins ‘Beautiful’ Anti-Trump Women’s March
Neil Young shared his experience of joining the Women’s March in Los Angeles yesterday (Jan. 20), saying it had been a “beautiful” and “very human” moment that he won’t forget quickly.
This year’s march, held to protest against President Donald Trump’s policies – and particularly those which are seen to fail women’s rights and equal rights – followed the event in 2017, which was created as a protest against his election to office. Many hundreds of thousands of people are said to have taken part in this year's marches across the U.S. over the weekend.
“In a sea of humanity, of people carrying signs of change, I was claustrophobic for a while but that passed,” Young said in a Facebook post. “Everyone was positive and happy to be there standing up for what they believed in. I got a little uncomfortable, knowing the times we are living in, how safety can no longer be counted on the way it used to be. A few supporters of a self-described stable genius stood in front of the police department hurling insults, but were largely ignored. Women held hands in front of them, separating them from the marchers. It was beautiful. All the happy people, together in one place expressing themselves; it was very human and I think I will never forget it. We just kept walking along hand in hand.”
He voiced his frustration that the Equal Rights Amendment, first tabled in 1932, remains unratified to this day. “Thirty-six states have voted for ratification. Thirty-eight states are required. Two more states need to vote to ratify,” he said. “I hope the hundreds of thousands of women and men that came out today felt the power their numbers hold. I hope they carry that feeling with them to the polls in November. We have the gall to ask other countries to include rights for women in their constitutions, yet in the American constitution women still do not have equal rights.”
He called for “all politicians running for office in the 14 States that have not ratified the ERA” to commit to doing so, with the aim of making the Amendment “final.”
In response to the marches, President Trump said in a tweet that it had been “[b]eautiful weather” and “a perfect day for all Women to March” and said his administration had achieved the “[l]owest female unemployment in 18 years”.