A highlight of my year was learning in November 2018 that the founder of Women’s March asked all four co-chairs of the movement to resign for promoting anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ views, as well as defending hateful rhetoric. Whether they resign or not, the movement’s crumbling foundation is now very public.
The crumbling foundation was noticeable from the beginning. I was skeptical of Women’s March when I first heard about it in January 2017. It came off as a huge anti-Trump rally that was exploiting the topic of “women’s rights” in order to garner support from organizations and institutions.
Surprisingly, co-chair Linda Sarsour, a Muslim activist from New York, became the face of the movement. She was so popular that an image of a woman wearing the hijab became one of the most popular images affiliated with the movement, and was featured on protest signs, social media and t-shirts.
It was not difficult to determine that Sarsour was a questionable person to be leading a “Women’s March.” Up until that point, her history only entailed building Islam in America by having New York City’s public schools acknowledge Islamic holidays, as well as hosting a “Hijabi Monologue.” In 2011 she sparred with two other women activists, Ayaan Hirsi Ali and Brigitte Gabriel, stating, “I wish I could take their vaginas away – they don’t deserve to be women.” (I will note that I consider Hirsi Ali and Gabriel to be much more qualified to lead a women’s rights protest than Sarsour.)
It was easy to see what Women’s March was, as it continued moving forward with a speaker who essentially contradicted the entire movement. It was a huge political and cultural scam.
A final blow to the movement was in 2018 when I learned that three co-chairs of Women’s March supported Louis Farrakhan, the notorious anti-Semitic leader of Nation of Islam, on Instagram, and even posted pictures of themselves with him. The post was actually put up in June 2015, well before the first Women’s March protest took place in January 2017. Farrakhan has a long history of expressing severe hatred towards Jews, gays and other groups, and still openly shares that hatred to this day. Farrakhan is also noted for saying, “Hitler was a very great man” in a 1984 speech that was broadcasted on a Chicago radio station. One would think someone developing Women’s March would have caught this absurd affiliation, but nope, somehow the movement sojourned on.
Finally, FINALLY, the founder of Women’s March stepped up and asked the co-chairs to resign in November 2018 due to their support for anti-Semitic and anti-gay views, as well as defending hateful rhetoric. What took so long?! At the end of the day Women’s March is still a sham, but I am glad the co-chairs were called out. Of course, the “nasty women” (a phrase Women’s March participants often call themselves) fired back at the founder, claiming she was out of line for asking them to resign. Somehow these women are still managing the movement, having recently released a video on December 12, 2018 on Women’s March official Facebook page that promotes the January 2019 Women’s March.
There are plenty of other issues that have been noted regarding Women’s March, such Women’s March organizers contacting journalists who shared a lengthy report published by Tablet Magazine on social media that gives in-depth detail regarding the movement’s controversial past of anti-Semitism and poor management. An original organizer of the movement also confirmed that two co-chairs, Perez and Mallory, “berated” her for being Jewish.
“Women’s March” will continue to crumble and float off into the oblivion.
Main photo source: CNN
Lauren Ell is an American blogger born and raised in Southern California and is currently based in Sweden. She discusses Epilepsy, Politics and Fun. Professionally Ell is an Online Marketing Consultant and Virtual Assistant. She is also founder and president of Republican Atheists and GunSafetySociety.org. Connect with Lauren on Facebook and Twitter.