Actresses Alyssa Milano, Amber Tamblyn and Patricia Arquette were among hundreds of thousands of activists who marched to promote women’s rights and equality and protest against President Donald Trump‘s policies on Saturday, the one-year anniversary of his inauguration.
These are the second such Women’s March rallies in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, New York and other cities. For the second year, scores of participants wore pink knit cat-eared “pussy hats,” a symbol of female empowerment created in response to Trump’s now-infamous offensive comments made to Billy Bushon a hot-mic 2005 Access Hollywood tape.
“I really want you guys to look around at each other,” Milano told the crowd at the Women’s March on Atlanta. “I want you to look around and I want you to realize, that this, this right here is what democracy looks like. It doesn’t happen automatically. It demands our action and participation. It challenges us but it also empowers us because at the end of the day, it is us.”
This year’s Women’s March events come amid a growing #MeToo movement of people speaking out against sexual assault and harassment, sparked by accusations of misconduct made against a growing number of powerful men in and outside of Hollywood, namely producer Harvey Weinstein. Milano promoted the hashtag, founded more than a decade ago by activist Tarana Burke, last October.
“With those two words, we regained our dignity and #MeToo connected us through our pain but it also connected us, and this is very important,” Milano said. “it connected us each one of us to our own power and by saying #MeToo, we formed a bond that is unbreakable. We formed a movement that is unstoppable and when time comes time to vote, you’re gonna prove that it’s also unbeatable.”
The 2018 midterm elections to elect members of Congress take place in November.
“Voting is how we prove that our country is so much bigger and kinder than one man that is in the White House,” she said. “The good news is that in a democracy like ours, the real power is not with him, it is with you. Let me tell you, we’ve got a whole lot more love and hope on our side than they have a–holes.”
Milano then led the crowd in a chant, saying, “I believe that we will win!”
Other celebrity participants included Melissa Gilbert and Piper Perabo, actor Javier Muñoz and Rosie Perez, who spoke at the New York march and ended her speech with a triumphant, “Power to the p—y y’all!”
Other scheduled speakers at Women’s March demonstrations include Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Alyssa Milano, Olivia Munn, Allison Janney and Viola Davis, while performers include Idina Menzel and Andra Day.
Tamblyn, Arquette and Perabo marched in New York and posted photos and videos from their march. The stars have spoken out publicly against sexual misconduct and the former two have detailed their own past experiences.
Arquette marched with the women’s organization ERA Yes! and shared a selfie with a man who carried a sign promoting the group and also reading “Time’s Up”—a nod to the Time’s Up fundraising campaign to help sexual harassment victims.
A Women’s March also took place in Italy.
There, actress Asia Argento, another one of Weinstein’s accusers, joined the crowd.