Moscow marchers fill the streets

MOSCOW - Jo Elsbury, a family doctor at Moscow Family Medicine, laughed as people admired her full-body cat costume, complete with tail.

But as Elsbury waited outside city hall early Saturday afternoon, she shared her serious reasons for joining her city's version of the Women's March on Washington.

"I'm here to march for health care for all my patients, and the right of women to choose," Elsbury said.

More than 1,000 women, men and children joined Elsbury for a trek up Third Street's snowy sidewalks to East City Park.

By the time the event wrapped up about 3 p.m., the number had grown to an estimated 2,500.

"I am just overwhelmed," organizer Elizabeth Stevens said. "It just goes to show we're not going to stand for hate here on the Palouse."

Before the march, Stevens said if half the approximately 800 people who joined the event's Facebook page turned out, it would be a success.

Though the larger-than-expected group eventually breached the sidewalks, filling Third Street for several blocks, no violence marred Saturday's event.

University of Idaho graduate student Nathan Minard was one of many men among the group.

"I've never had to worry about my rights being taken away," Minard said. "I'm here in solidarity with those who do have to worry."

Imelda Daley came from Clarkston to participate in the march.

"I feel like it's a wonderful way to connect with people, because I was feeling sort of isolated down there," Daley said.

Rhonda Osborne Dater, of Moscow, explained the pink hat she and hundreds of other participants wore.

"They look like kitty ears," Osborne Dater said, pointing to nubs on either side. "Which leads directly to the P-word."

The reference to an infamous quote from President Donald Trump was repeated on many of the signs carried by marchers.

"We're really just here to send a message to the incoming administration," Stevens said. "There's just a whole heck of a lot of us who don't want to see the clock turned back."

Once assembled around the stage in East City Park, the crowd broke into occasional chants of "We will rise" as representatives from local government, universities and nonprofit organizations shared their messages.

Lysa Salsbury, director of UI's Women's Center, pledged to start having the "difficult conversations" with those whose opinions are different from hers and called those assembled to join her, to loud applause.

The U.S. is No. 1 in the world for women's freedoms, said Nigerian-born Tosin Orisadipe, and preserving that status is important. He was there, Orisadipe said, for his wife and three daughters.

"Because we are all human beings, we have a duty to speak up," he said.

Many emphasized the need to maintain the momentum of the day's event, continuing to advocate for causes such as women's rights, civil rights, environmental rights and LGBTQ rights.

"It's not just a feel-good moment," UI professor Leotina Hormel said.

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Stone may be contacted at mstone@lmtribune.com or at (208) 848-2244. Follow her on Twitter @MarysSchoolNews.