As they march on, two people in different states fight for the same cause: equality for all.

Over 5 million feminist activists gathered across the country in rally’s to support women’s equality, on January 21. Two LZHS girls rallied with several other hundreds of thousands in women’s marches.

“On [a] train, there were men and women of all ages,” Claire Leopold, a junior and self-identified feminist, said. “A lot of people were crying because they were so emotional and proud to be American and for the future. It was really inspirational.”

One item that helped represent this pride was pink hats that were worn by many in both D.C. and Chicago.

“The pink hats made a statement saying that women are strong too and were able to fight back,” Julia Funk, a junior and who considers herself a feminist, said. “It was very uniting and it helped represent our survival so far, as well as the suffrage.”

Something the students said to find uniting about the experience was that many did not come alone, but with family and friends. These rallys became a place where parents could bring young children. Leopold said that everyone felt safe on the streets of Washington D.C. that day because they were surrounded by like-minded people fighting for the same or similar reasons with many others supportive friends and family members.

“My mom found out about it on Facebook. She initially wanted us to go because she wanted to show her children how strong women are when they come together and force the establishment to listen to them,” Leopold said. “I want to be able to tell my children about this and how I was a part of history and what this meant for history.”

Leopold says her mother taught her, from a very young age, how to be a feminist and why it is important to be one. She believe that her mother is one of the main reasons Leopold is so passionate about being a feminist, she said.

“I think there’s such a stigma around the word feminist. It’s about wanting equal rights. It’s not about having more or less, it’s the desire for everyone to be equal,” Funk said. “With equal rights, that could mean that someone might lose some of their privilege and that’s something they’re scared of. That’s kind of why movements like this get put down, because people don’t want to lose the privilege that they have.”

Leopold and Funk feels passionate about women having equal rights and hope to be a part of the movement in any way that can, they said.

“It was amazing to be apart of something bigger than me,” Leopold said. “To be able to support the people to gain equality in my community made me really hopeful for the future, for women and minorities in America. Being a part of this gave me a voice and allowed me to voice this movement and voice my opinion publicly, which really meant a lot to me.”