Naples Women’s March sees over 2,000 in attendance

Women in Southwest Florida stood together strong for women’s rights this weekend. They led one among thousands of marches that happened this morning across the country. Here, thousands of women gathered to make sure their voices are heard.

People across the nation walked in the fourth annual Women’s March to commemorate women’s rights Saturday.

“It makes you feel like you’re not alone, and there’s other people that care about the same things,” said Laurah Jean, an award recipient.

Over 2,000 people gathered in downtown Naples, using their signs and their voices, to celebrate how far women have come in society and acknowledged how much more can be done to reach equality.

“I just think it empowers you to do more,”” marcher Eliany Pino said. “And it encourages you to spread to how many other people you can do that change can be made.”

Women we spoke to shared their reasons why events like the women’s march are important for today’s generations.

“There is no guarantee that my daughters and my granddaughters are going to enjoy the types of rights even I enjoyed a while back,” Suzanne Cherney, the organizer and co- founder of the SWFL Justice 4 All Coalition.

Other participants said days like today go beyond one purpose.

“Today is not only a day to support women, but it’s a day to support equal justice for everybody,” marcher Frank King said.

The march was organized by several Collier County nonprofit organizations — all with the same mission in mind to have an inclusive celebration of women’s rights and to register people to vote. A women’s march was also organized and hosted in Fort Myers Saturday.

“If we really believe in one person, one vote, we have to do a much better job at taking obstacles away that seem trivial to some but are really real to others,” Cherney said.

The celebration also included an awards ceremony recognizing several influential women in the community.

“This is important work. Gotta get the word out. Gotta get the vote out,” marcher Shelly King said. “Gotta get women out to represent their own interest.”