To coincide with the national Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 21, local planners are organizing a rally in Augusta to take place the same day.

“It’s a sister rally,” said organizer Stephanie Harmon McLain, 31.

The Maine State House is scheduled to be the site of a rally for women's and minorities' rights on Jan. 21. Staff file photo by Joe Phelan

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“We want to show people that people want to band together and stand up for all the groups that have been marginalized by the upcoming presidential administration,” Harmon McLain said. Those groups include women, immigrants, the disabled, the LGBTQ community, and climate change advocates, among others. It is not limited to women, she said.

“We’re not going to let this rhetoric happen, and we’re not going to back down if they come after these groups’ rights,” the Farmington resident said. “The statements made by the president-elect have angered a lot of people.”

During the course of his successful campaign, Donald Trump, the president-elect, made a number of provocative statements, and others — including an audio recording of his behavior toward women — from before the campaign came to light.

Organizers also have noted behavior of Gov. Paul LePage, who endorsed Trump, that they find troubling.

While she’s been politically active for a number of years, Harmon McLain never has organized a rally before. In the wake of the presidential election, she created a Facebook group called Maine Stand Up and Be Heard, and that’s where she first heard about the Women’s March on Washington and started thinking that something should be planned for Augusta.

The event page, Women’s March on Augusta!, was made public Tuesday, and as of 5 p.m. Wednesday, nearly 700 people have said they are interested in going, 116 indicated they are attending and the event has been shared more than 1,600 times.

Because it’s a public page, some dissenting comments have been posted.

That has surprised Meaghan Carlson, 38, who has spent some time in community organizing in Gardiner, where she lives. Because of that experience and her proximity to Augusta, she decided to lend the rally some help.

“My mom took me to a National Organization for Women rally when I was in the seventh grade, and it had an impact on me, seeing so many people caring about the issue,” Carlson said. “It’s important to show my kids that there’s strength in numbers. I believe in collaborations, and I teach my kids to speak up when something is not right.”

She characterized the comments as combative and negative.

“That’s why we’re doing this, to combat the negative attitude, but I guess that depends on what point of view you are looking at,” she said.

The national Women’s March on Washington also is scheduled to take place at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 21.

The national event had been expected to take place on the National Mall, but organizers were unable to secure a permit for that location because other groups had requested it first. The national march is still expected to take place at the Lincoln Memorial.

More than 1,700 people are expected to travel to the nation’s capital from Maine, including a number from central Maine.

In Augusta, the event is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. on the west side of the State House, between the State House and the Burton M. Cross State Office Building. It’s expected to include speakers, and opportunities for community organizations and causes to share information.

Harmon McLain said organizers are putting together a list of speakers, and as that list shapes up, it will be publicized.

“Maybe this is a place where people can find someone to work with, or get involved with a group or an organization,” she said. “There are a lot of things that could happen.”

Jessica Lowell — 621-5632

jlowell@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @JLowellKJ

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