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PHOTOS: PitCo Dems lead annual People’s March through Aspen as Inauguration Day looms

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Austin Colbert
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Led by the Pitkin County Democrats, around 100 people braved the cold to join the local version of the annual People's March on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, in downtown Aspen. Formerly called the "Women's March," hundreds of similar events took place across the nation ahead of Inauguration Day.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

Joining men and women from across the country, the Pitkin County Democrats led the local version of the annual People’s March on Saturday through downtown Aspen.

Still known by many as the “Women’s March,” around 100 people took part in a walk from Gondola Plaza at the base of Aspen Mountain to the Pitkin County Library, where a handful of speakers talked.

The event’s conclusion was moved inside to the library from Paepcke Park due to the cold temperatures.

“We are here today, and it’s a powerful show of unity and strength,” said speaker Meiko Lunetta, senior major gifts officer for Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains. “You’ve all marched and marched and marched, and I’m so grateful to be here and that you braved the cold, and I’m sorry we have to keep doing this year after year. But I’m glad we are doing it.”

The nationwide march came two days before Inauguration Day, with President-elect Donald Trump set to retake control of the White House on Monday.


“We don’t have to take it without doing something about it,” said Pitkin County Democrat party chair Betty Wallach, who recently announced her retirement. “These five women who spoke, what are we going to do with it?”

According to the Associated Press, more than 350 similar marches were taking place on Saturday. The original Women’s March was eight years ago, at the beginning of Trump’s first term as president in January 2017.

Shannon Meyer, the executive director of Response, a local organization that seeks to combat domestic and sexual abuse, brought up the Battered Women’s Movement of the 1970s during her talk.

Holding signs and chanting, people join the local version of the annual People’s March on Saturday, Jan. 18, 2025, in downtown Aspen.
Austin Colbert/The Aspen Times

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“This movement has made amazing progress in the 40 years since Response was founded, but we must now look to the future to make sure we don’t go back to a time when domestic abuse was dismissed, ignored, or worse, tolerated,” she said. “We have to recognize the courage of survivors who have spoken out, often at great personal cost. We must honor their courage by ensuring that our laws, policies, and cultural norms have zero tolerance for domestic and sexual abuse.”

Among the speakers was lawyer Beth Klein, who wasn’t shy about recognizing the toughness of women while also taking a shot at one of Trump’s more recognizable supporters.

“I could not wear pants in elementary school. I could not participate in sports other than cheerleading. I assure you that days like today, wearing a dress with ankle boots, I was more badass than Joe Rogan will ever be,” she said. “How many girls here had to wear dresses and walk a mile and a half to school in weather like this? It is tough, but that’s why we are tough — because we can do things like that.”

acolbert@aspentimes.com

Reach Austin at acolbert@aspentimes.com

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