More than 100 people gathered at Public Square Park in downtown Nashville Saturday to protest the incoming Trump administration, abortion bans and anti-LGBTQ legislation.
When President-elect Donald Trump was inaugurated 8 years ago, Jo Krump and her mom Lizzie Buchanan marched downtown.
This year, they showed up again wearing rainbow hats and carrying colorful signs.
“I think it’s important to be out here in Tennessee because we don’t get represented by our representatives very often,” Krump said. “So we have to show up and show that the South isn’t some backwards place. That we care. We really do.”
Paige Pfleger WPLN News
Lizzie Buchanan and her daughter Jo Krump.
“This isn’t the South I grew up in,” Buchanan said.
Buchanan added that she never thought people would lose access to rights like reproductive health care. As the mother of two queer children, she said she is going to keep showing up to ensure the rights of her kids and other LGBTQ kids don’t get taken away.
Allie Phillips was one of many politicians and activists that spoke at the rally Saturday. Phillips had to travel out of state for an abortion when her wanted pregnancy became nonviable. Tennessee has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country since Roe v. Wade was overturned.
“The fact that we have no exceptions for rape or incest just proves it was never about protecting life,” Phillips said. “It’s about control.”
Paige Pfleger WPLN News
Protesters hold up signs at the People’s March in downtown Nashville.
After her abortion, Phillips ran an unsuccessful race for a seat in Tennessee’s house. Her Republican opponent, incumbent Rep. Jeff Burkhart, was quiet on the issue of abortion during the race.
Abortion is one of several issues that divides Tennessee’s politicians from their constituents — a Vanderbilt poll found that the state’s Republican Supermajority is more conservative than poll participants.
“The supermajority has shown us that they can be bought, but it’s our time to show them that we are not for sale,” Phillips told the crowd to cheers. “Stay involved and don’t lose hope.”
