TheWomen's March on Seattle (stylized as theWomxn's March on Seattle)[3] was theSeattle affiliate of the worldwide2017 Women's March protest on January 21, 2017. Newspapers includingThe Seattle Times said it was Seattle's largest protest march in history.[4][5]
The march route was from Seattle'sCentral District throughWestlake Park inDowntown Seattle to theSeattle Center. Drawing an estimated 120,000 to 175,000 marchers according to police and organizers respectively,[1][2] more than the1999 Seattle WTO protests, the March filled the entire 3-mile (4.8 km) route through downtown by early afternoon, making vehicle traffic across the route impossible.[6] It was expected to be the third largest protest march in the United States on January 21, after theWomen's March on Washington (D.C.) and the march in Los Angeles.[7][8][9] An unusual feature of the march is that it was planned to be held in silence.[10]
The event was named using the spelling "womxn"; organizers stated that this naming was meant to symbolizeintersectionality with thetransgender community.[11]
The march was routed on South Jackson Street through theChinatown-International District neighborhood, causing major traffic disruptions. Some businesses in the neighborhood reported large losses in sales, taking place in the lead-up to theLunar New Year (the largest shopping day of the year in the neighborhood). While restaurants reported good sales, grocery stores that rely on bulk purchases reported losses of up to 65 percent.[13] Prior to the march, business leaders warned that the march would disrupt sales and wrote open letters in theInternational Examiner asking march participants to return to the neighborhood to offset losses.[14]
Other events in Twisp, Spokane, Yakima and Walla Walla inEastern Washington and numerous cities inWestern Washington, as well asPortland, Oregon drew additional thousands of marchers.[19][20][21][22][23] The event at the state capitol inOlympia had 10,000 attendees.[23] For days, regional knitting shops were sold out of pink yarn used to makepussy hats crafted and worn by the protestors.[24]
The Seattle march was endorsed by Washington's senior United States senator,Patty Murray, who said she would be physically present at the D.C. event.[25] The King CountyAFL–CIO chapter officially participated in the event.[26] The mayor of Seattle,Ed Murray, marched.[2]
