Thousands gather Saturday at Oklahoma Capitol for Women’s March

Jan. 21--When asked why she had traveled to Oklahoma City for a rally and march at the state Capitol, Natalie Taft pointed to her daughters who sat in a circle playing a clapping game and wearing orange and green flowers in their hair.

"We are here for equality," said Taft, who joined a crowd of thousands Saturday for the Women's March on Oklahoma. "But I am here for them."

One day after Donald Trump's inauguration as the 45th president of the United States, rallies were held across the nation and world, including a Women's March on Washington where hundreds of thousands filled the streets of the nation's capital.

The election of a man who some saw as hostile toward women's rights sparked the national day of protest, but those who gathered at the state Capitol said they came together for more reasons than just a protest against the president.

"We are number one in incarceration of females and that is unacceptable," said Sarah Garde, referring to Oklahoma's status as the top state for female prisoners at a rate nearly double the national average.

Garde's sign, which read, "Educate not incarcerate," was one of hundreds throughout the crowd. Many of the signs referred to Trump, but others advocated for the protection of women's health care, pro-abortion rights policies and a general culture of equality and respect.

Some of the women in attendance said they had expected Hillary Clinton to win the election and become the nation's first female president, writing a new chapter in America's long story of women's rights.

But Trump's surprising victory caused some to re-evaluate their thoughts about the country, including Lacey Steiger, of Norman, who also brought her daughter to the Capitol.

"It's been kind of a confusing time," said Steiger, who held a sign that read, "I grab back," a reference to a 2005 video that recorded Trump bragging about grabbing women in their private areas. "We were really excited about the election but explaining everything to (my daughter) has been a confusing time. We really wanted to come together in a peaceful setting."

The event included a slate of speakers who encouraged the crowd to remain vigilant over the next four years and to also find ways to get involved in various causes. There was also a strong emphasis on voting in upcoming elections.

Event organizers said conservatively they were expecting about 6,000 people to attend but said that number could swell to as high as 10,000 people or more

More than 670 Women's Marches were scheduled for Saturday, spanning across the U.S. and dozens of countries.

Marches in Chicago, Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. were among the largest events, with hundreds of thousands of people gathering in and around the National Mall, so many that organizers weren't able to lead a formal march toward the White House and instead told protesters to make their own way through other streets.

Transportation officials suggested that there were more people at the National Mall for the march than those who attended Trump's inauguration, a claim Trump's press secretary Sean Spicer rejected, telling members of the press during a Saturday appearance that stories of crowd sizes were an example of "deliberately false reporting."

Oklahoma City's rally included a march along the streets near the Capitol and the event drew attention online as an example of the movement's reach even in deeply conservative states like Oklahoma, where Trump won with 65 percent of the vote.

Trump not only performed well in Oklahoma, but drew constant praise from the state's female governor who was a member of his transition team.

But Saturday's rallies highlighted the divide in America following an election where Trump won the electoral college, but lost the popular vote by more than three million votes.

"We love our country and we are concerned about women's rights, and many other rights," said Bette Maffucci, 83, a Norman resident who attended the Oklahoma rally. "He's (Trump) putting in marginal people who will definitely not be prepared to do the kinds of things this country needs. It's just a deplorable time; this is the scariest time in my life."

Maffucci had worked in the 1970s to campaign for the passing of the Equal Rights Amendment, and she said she was in disbelief she still had to protest for equal rights so many years later.

Beyond national politics, there were also many in the crowd who said local issues were what had brought them out.

"Part of the reason that I'm here is the gutting of education. I think that all of us feel that fury," Megan Benson, 70, said. "Both my daughters are teachers, so I've watched them struggle. My oldest daughter literally has the ceiling caving in on her in her classroom and it just makes me furious. To hear Trump talk yesterday about the bank rolls of money in education, where is that? What planet does he live on?"

Despite the focus on women's rights, there were many men in attendance, including Karen Boswell's son.

"If I can raise a man who is going to be the opposite of what Donald Trump is as a man and as a president, I feel like I have done my job as a mom," said Boswell, who held a sign that read, "I march for my son."

Lindsey Kanaly helped organized the Oklahoma march and said she hoped the message from Saturday not only reached Washington, but also the state Legislature.

"We want to change legislation," Kanaly said. "We want to show people that we need change, we need to start seeing some pro-women bills instead of every single legislation round we get all these bills trying to regulate women but we don't have anything trying to promote women."

"We have women from all walks of life. We have Republican women, we have Democratic women, we have independent women who are here and willing to support each other. We're not saying change is going to happen overnight but it can start happening and I think a lot of people are motivated to see that happen."

Contributing: Staff Writer Josh Wallace and wire reports.

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