Following the Inauguration of President Donald Trump 2017, millions around the country gathered in cities across America to march in support of women’s rights. The first annual Women’s March was one of the largest gatherings on a single day in history. Now, two years later, the march continues to evolve and has become a platform for discussing a broad range of issues.

A repeated question within the Women’s March is whether many of the protesters neglect issues that impact women of color and the LGBTQ+ community. Left unchecked, mainstream feminism prioritizes the issues of white, heterosexual, cisgender women and often overlooks the experiences of marginalized groups. This is known as “white feminism”, and it is the reason why many women of color find themselves unable to identify with the present day feminist movement.

At the 2019 march there were signs that read, “If Hillary were president we’d be at brunch right now”. While it’s true that the first Women’s March in 2017 was a response to the election of Trump, three years later the march stands for much more than the opposition of the President.

When a march is on a scale as large as this one, there are different groups of people advocating for many different things. What the Women’s March lacks is intersectionality– the ability to make all kinds of feminism equal. In order to practice intersectional feminism, it’s important to realize that the oppression of one individual may come in different forms than that of another. For example, being a woman is not limited to those assigned female at birth, and equating vaginas with being female is exclusionary to trans-women and non-binary people.

Everyone experiences oppression and privilege in different ways. With effort, a multitude of experiences and practicing intersectional feminism’s inclusivity could lead to the equality intended by the Women’s March.