Hundreds gathered at the Texas Capitol on Saturday in compliance with International Women’s Day to call for the protection of reproductive rights and an end to discrimination and sexual violence against women and the LGBTQ+ community.
Austin students from a democratic society known as SDS held protests in response to the state of women’s rights in Texas, particularly abortion access and health care. The US Supreme Court received a Roev in June 2022. After overturning Wade, a total abortion ban was enacted in August 2022 in Texas.
“It’s important to let people know that there are more options and that politics doesn’t stop at the vote,” said Communications Research Junior Magnor. “The power of popular movements is the only way that civil rights have been acquired in America, and it is always through a very difficult process.”
At least seven speakers, including UT students and community members, shared different perspectives on gender and gender discrimination and reproductive health challenges they experienced.
Sabrine Petusky, a freshman in English and anthropology, said he remembers fear around the period tracking app while experiencing health problems caused by inconsistencies in his menstrual cycle.
“I thought my rights were under attack, so I couldn’t trust my government to respect my privacy in my own body, which hurt me,” Petasky said in her speech. “Abortion is very important for so many reasons. I don’t know why until it’s gone.”
The organizers of Austin’s local Minx Real and the Women’s March, an international women’s advocacy network, said it’s beautiful to see a massive crowd supporting their cause.
“We’re all here for the same reasons,” Rial said. “The highlight is that this is more than just feminism. It’s humanism. We are human.”
Alice Goines, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation, said her hopes will attract different people and offer opportunities to reach out to people with different kinds of struggles.
“Specifically, as a trans woman, it’s not the experience of many people, so it can provide a perspective that many people can’t really see or really understand,” Goines said. “I really wanted to talk about things from my perspective, and I also wanted to talk about how women’s liberation and International Women’s Day are really important.”
Junior Victoria Cayodo of Psychology said that taking an intersecting approach to understanding women’s rights is important in acknowledging how discrimination based on race and disability affects health.
“To me, being here is merely solidarity with other people I understand, I want to understand, people who empathize with women’s rights and want to see positive change,” Kayode said.
Jules Lattimore, a socialist organization and SDS member of Freedom Road, said he came to the assembly to bring people together on these issues.
“Women’s oppression precedes capitalism, but now we cannot live without it,” Lattimore said in his speech. “The revolutionary struggle for socialism considers the liberation of women as an immediate mission, and the struggle for women’s liberation must also be in the core struggle for socialism.”
