A group of at least two thousand protestors, predominantly LGBTQ+ people, rallied at Columbus Circle before kicking off a march that went by the Supreme Court and stopped in front of the headquarters of the Heritage Foundation, authors of Project 2025. In front of the Heritage Foundation, we took over the street with a joyous dance break accompanied by a live DJ set by Griffin Maxwell Brooks. At this, the first-ever Gender Liberation March, we championed medical access to abortion and gender affirming care. We organized our march to bring the opposite of Project 2025 and all who this fascist, rightwing political road map would harm right to their doorsteps. 

It was important for us to have that moment in front of the Heritage Foundation as a way to bring our queer joy right to their offices and show that no matter what they have planned, they will not win, they will not break us or our spirit. Our communities are resilient and we will always come together and fight back against these attacks to control our bodies and decisions about our healthcare. The right wing apparatus wants to speak about us without knowing or seeing us, and so Gender Liberation March was all about showing up and showing out in our full selves.

- Eliel Cruz, Gender Liberation Movement co-organizer

Photo by Alexa Wilkinson

The march was followed by a speaker program that included celebrities like Elliot Page, Julio Torres, and Geena Rocero, as well as a host of activist and community organizers including Gender Liberation Movement leader Raquel Willis, Monica Simpson of SisterSong, Renee Bracey Sherman of WeTestify, Bamby Salcedo of the Trans Latina Coalition, Oluchi Omeoga of the Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project, and others working for gender justice and liberation. The rally’s line up was diverse and  intergenerational, elevating youth leaders and  families of trans youth, Palestinian and anti-Zionist Jewish voices, and elders like Miss Major, a Stonewall veteran and movement icon. The program included performances by Peppermint, Junior Mintt, and the House Miyake-Mugler.

The festival portion of the Gender Liberation March included tents that gave out diverse titles of books that could presumably be banned in various states across the country, a youth area with art building and a drag queen story hour, a memorial area honoring those lost to anti-trans and gender based violence, a get out the vote effort spearheaded by Advocates for Trans Equality, and also the Body Freedom for Every(Body) art exhibit.  

Photo by Cole Witter

Yesterday, the Gender Liberation Movement led thousands of people in the streets of Washington, D.C. to defend access to abortion, gender-affirming care, and the lives that we deserve. The people are fed up with the far-right shift of the Supreme Court and the Heritage Foundation’s evil Project 2025 agenda that conservatives are propping up ahead of the 2024 election. Speakers and performers from across various social justice movements made the connection that everyone’s bodily autonomy and self-determination is under attack. While this movement centers trans and nonbinary people, women of all experiences, and those who may need abortion or IVF access at some point in their lives, we are fighting for everyone’s right to make decisions about their own bodies and create the lives they deserve. We will not back down. We will claim our power. We will demand that our bodies, our genders, and our choices be respected. And we will continue to fight for a more expansive, empathetic collective future.

-Raquel Willis, GLM co-organizer