Residents of Lexington protested for multiple causes, including immigrant rights, LGBTQ+ rights and reproductive rights outside of the Robert F. Stephens Courthouse Plaza during “Rally for the People” on Saturday, Feb. 1.
During “Rally for the People,” protestors held up signs and chanted phrases like “immigrants make America great,” “the people united will never be defeated” and “this is what democracy looks like.”
Alyssa Porter, the organizer of the protest and a senior political science student at the University of Florida, said “Rally for the People” was an “umbrella event.” Instead of focusing on a specific issue, Porter said she wanted everyone to be able to advocate for the issues they were passionate about.
Porter said she saw signs for a variety of issues, like climate change, gun control and book bans.
“People are coming here to just show their local lawmakers the issues that matter to them,” Porter said.
After President Donald Trump’s recent reelection, Porter said she felt really defeated, and that Trump’s executive orders within the first weeks of his term further compelled her to organize an event.
Porter said she hoped to unify others who felt affected by the administration’s actions.
“The main goal of it was to bring the community together and show the people here that they’re supported and they’re loved and they’re not alone,” Porter said.
Porter said even though she felt the “current administration wants us to be scared,” she hoped people could come together and unite with one another.
“I think that there is joy in our resistance, and I think that our joy is an active resistance,” Porter said. “I hope that people know that we’re out here for them, and that this can be a joyful fight for us.”
Recently moving from Florida to Kentucky, Porter said she was hesitant to arrange an event like “Rally for the People” because of how new she was to the community. She was also concerned about whether people would attend, as she was the sole organizer of the protest.
“Having people actually come and say ‘no, this matters to us too,’ it means everything to me,” Porter said.
One of the protesters in attendance, Aaron Viles with Progress Kentucky, said he thought Trump’s actions in the first weeks of his term were a “really harsh step in the wrong direction,” saying he was worried about government programs “degrading,” and the treatment of federal workers.
Progress Kentucky, formerly known as the Mitch McConnell Retirement Committee, is a campaign that aims to “educate and engage voters and promote progressive reforms at the state and federal levels,” according to the organization’s website.
“Showing up to oppose the moves that the Trump Administration has made in just the first two weeks, is I think a very reasonable, and moderate step because it’s really disconcerting,” Viles said.
Some protestors in attendance were new to political involvement, like 70-year-old Mary Minor, as she said this was the first time she attended a protest.
Minor said she, and other women, were concerned about how the Trump administration’s actions would affect them, specifically saying “he’s taking control, taking away our freedoms.”
“We’re not going to sit back and let things happen,” Minor said. “We’re going to fight and we’re going to do what we can to bring justice.”
During “Rally for the People,” many guest speakers addressed protestors directly like Councilwoman Emma Curtis, the first transgender councilwoman in Lexington, who said attendees should be proud of themselves for dealing with the effects of the last few weeks.
“The fact that you are here today means that you are still alive after one of the most grueling and intense weeks for marginalized folks in recent memory in our country,” Curtis said. ”That is something that you should be very proud of.”
During her speech, Curtis told attendees to “fight back” through connecting with each other, saying protestors should introduce themselves to new people and exchange phone numbers.
“We are going to need each other to know what is happening on the ground here in Lexington and what we can do to keep each other safe,” Curtis said.
Curtis said protestors should remember to be compassionate towards those who voted for Trump, saying that his actions may affect them too.
“The people that voted for Donald Trump did not necessarily know what they were voting for,” Curtis said. “As we move forward, we have to acknowledge that these policies are going to hurt them too.”
Saying she practiced Christian traditions growing up, Curtis said she was taught to “love your neighbor as yourself” despite differences in belief or background.
“When they are hurting, we are not going to show them anger, and cast them aside and tell them ‘I told you so,’” Curtis said. “We are going to show up, and we are going to help them, because that’s what we do.”
Curtis said she hoped if protestors took anything away from the event, for it to be “the knowledge that no matter what happens in Washington, we have each other’s backs here in Lexington.”
Along with Curtis, Kentucky Rep. George Brown also delivered a guest speaker speech, where he told attendees to stay politically active and informed.
“We gotta be informed, and we gotta join hand in hand like we’re joined out here today,” Brown said.
Alyssa R., a protester who asked her last name to be omitted, agreed community building “through these next four years” was important, saying activism starts on the local level.
“We need to know that just because our state is choosing to do things doesn’t mean our city can’t fight back, and can’t be there for its constituents at this level,” Alyssa R. said.
