Through the Static

By Hannah Saunders

Small groups of Handmaids walked through Pike Place Market, weaving through crowds of tourists and other visitors to group up and form a line holding signs that read “1 in 5 women will be RAPED in their lifetime,” and “Epstein’s youngest victim was 14.” These 40 handmaids were pivotal in bringing attention to the incessant targeting of women’s rights in the U.S for the September 7 Women’s Rights Rally at the Seattle Waterfront, organized by DefundMusk. 

Former US Attorney running for Seattle City Attorney, Erika Evans, was the first speaker to step up to the podium, and wore a vibrant red suit that showed solidarity with the handmaids. Evans is running against republican incumbent Ann Davidson, and noted the importance of the position that enacts policies that will either harm or help community members.

“Right now, we are under attack from a fascist, racist, sexist agenda from the Trump administration,” Evans said. “We refuse to be a second-class citizen. With the overturning of Roe V. Wade and the Queer agenda in Project 2025, it is clear what is being laid out. They are trying to make us second-class citizens again.” 

With Trump’s second term, we have entered unprecedented times, and we need to fight back, Evans said, as the audience of about 100 people clapped, cheered, and whistled. A large blow-up doll of Elon Musk— whom DefundMusk is dedicated to combating– thrusted a Nazi salute into the air every few seconds as Elayne Wylie of Gender Justice League walked towards the stage. 

Wylie said Trans women are being targeted, which increases attacks against all women, and that the community is stronger together. She hyped up the audience as they all chanted, “We are stronger together!” 

“And as a Trans woman, in their Gilead, I’d be one of the first up on the wall, and you know what wall I’m talking about,” Wylie said, referencing a wall in the TV series, The Handmaid’s Tale, which features a wall where murdered citizens’ bodies are displayed to scare others who are seeking to resist an oppressive regime. 

“I walk around in a world where Trans rights have been decimated at the federal level, and many states have stoked the fires of bigotry and discrimination against Trans people,” Wylie said. “They want to wear you down with every day…til you just get weary and exhausted and you cannot give up.”  

The rally’s intermission included a dance and singing performance about rising and resisting rights abuses by Liberity Strikes, and a man shaking maracas near the front of the audience welcomed the next speaker, who is the regional organizer for the Planned Parenthood Alliance, Madeline Brown. 

Brown emphasized the history of reproductive rights, like the horrors included in the field of gynecology, the medical experimentation on Black enslaved women who did not consent to procedures, and more. 

“Under this administration, the general public is starting to face the realities of the cruel policies that BIPOC and LGBTQ people have always faced,” Brown said. 

As tourists approached the waterfront’s overlook to witness what may have been their first Seattle rally, Brown spoke about her upbringing and how her mother was a nurse and single mom, whom she describes as among the hardest-working women on the planet. As a teenager, she took on more responsibility to lessen the load on her mother, and hopped on birth control that helped with painful periods. She felt empowered through bodily education and said that basic women’s healthcare rights cannot be rolled back. 

Also wearing red was the final speaker and mayoral candidate, Katie Wilson, who highlighted the destructive impact of Medicaid cuts. Wilson said when families are supported through the various systems, including healthcare and childcare, they thrive.

“We need a city that can have healthcare for all. We need a city that guarantees reproductive rights,” Wilson said. 

Wilson said billionaires will be the ones to make childcare and healthcare accessible for all in Seattle, and that she is confident in defeating Mayor Bruce Harrell in the November election. The candidate invited audience members to participate in her campaign until then. 

As Wilson was walking up the steps to leave the venue with her young daughter, far-right content creators Jonathan Choe, Matthew Adams, and Vivian Ivy— who’s real name is Jessica Jane McClure— surrounded Wilson with their recording devices. Choe was filming her and her daughter while moving in closer as he peppered her with questions, as Vivian Ivy, sporting a helmet and a vest, followed his lead. 

Wilson was redirected towards a different exit route as community members stepped in to block Choe and Ivy’s harassment, while Adams walked around filming the interactions. The MAGA influencers claim that Wilson is “hanging out” with protesters who allegedly assaulted her at a different women’s rally in July because Wilson was seated next to a couple of people Ivy’s targeted at this rally.

Both Ivy and Choe visit left-leaning events armed: Ivy has pepper spray and has pulled a gun on a person in the past for safety, according to her Instagram post, and Choe has been caught on film hitting protesters on the head with his expandable baton.