International Women’s Day saw the sun shining on Glasgow as a small group in purple shirts and keffiyehs set up a stall by the Buchanan street steps.
A group of children sat next to them, eating snacks and hanging off the organiser’s arms. Onlookers milled around carrying transgender pride and Palestine flags, handing out leaflets and chatting.
The crowd has gathered to attend the Radical Women’s Rally organised by Rosa, a socialist feminist organisation that has chapters all over the world. They began by unfurling banners and laying them out on the pavement. One, a large trans pride flag with feminist slogans Sharpied on it. The other a large purple sheet with ‘bread and roses’ painted along its length.
The members held the banners up, shifting out so the crows could read them, as the main organiser from Rosa adjusted her keffiyeh, grabbed a megaphone covered in stickers, and stepped in front of the stall to address the crowd.
Image Credit: Niamh Brook
“The system we have guts women’s shelters, increases the pay gap, and thrives on our exploitation,” she called out, as the crowd clapped and raised their fists in acknowledgement. “Today, we remind them, and we remind each other, that the women who came before us knew that change does not come from CEOs or politicians. It comes from us.”
The crowd cheered and began a series of chants led by the organisers, as cries of ‘Stand up, fight back,’ echoed down the street and attracted a number of interested onlookers who began to merge into the crowd.
As the crowd quieted back down, the organiser held the megaphone out, and asked if anyone else would like to say a few words. Another member of Rosa stepped out, waving to get her attention. The organiser passed the megaphone with a smile.
‘I’d like to speak a bit about the link between the puberty blocker ban, bodily autonomy and women’s rights,’ they said, the pins on their denim jacket glinting in the sun. ‘The puberty blocker ban is a direct attack on the bodily autonomy of trans people. I feel like a lot of women would deeply feel that need for bodily autonomy as a really powerful right that we need to maintain.’
‘The link between this attack on trans people’s autonomy and the attack on women’s autonomy with abortion rights is inherently linked. We also need to highlight that the attack on trans women in women’s spaces directly affects cisgender women too. The attacks on trans women’s rights affect all women, everywhere.’
‘We are so much stronger together,’ they finish, to cheers from the crowd.
At this point, I feel like it’s my turn.
I head over to the stall, and ask if the megaphone is still going begging. The organisers look up from their table and grin, clapping me on the shoulder and showing me where the on button is. So, I head to the front, blood rushing in my ears, and start talking.
I only talk for two minutes. I talk about reading the news, and seeing my rights become more limited, the world more terrifying. I say that I am grateful to be included, and that I feel hope that things can get better. That we can be the revolution, and that we cannot stop or slow down. I tell the crowd that coming to this rally has made me feel the bravest I have felt in weeks. I thank them, and I mean it.
Eventually, I hand the megaphone back to the organisers, and the crowd claps as I head back to my spot with the blood rushing in my ears. I feel a few attendees clap my shoulders as I go.
The crowd chants again, and I join in with renewed energy. Eventually, one of the organisers lifts a huge, purple and yellow pinata from behind the table, dangling it on a stick in front of the crowd.
Image Credit. Scottish Socialist Youth
The pinata is covered with the faces of male politicians and various examples of sexist language. Another organiser pulls a stick covered in tissue paper, and offers it to a little girl standing shyly at the front of the crowd. She takes it, and swings.
The crowd shouts encouragement as her swings get more confident. The other children come out from behind the stall, and pass the stick between them. Eventually, the pinata breaks, spilling crisps, chocolate and wrapped pastries onto the street. Attendees at the front start passing food back, and the crowd breaks into smaller groups as the rally draws to a close.
I wander around the crowd, chatting to various members and slipping a pastry into my bag.
An organiser comes over to thank me for speaking, and we chat for a while as the crowd filters away.
‘Feminism is important to me, and intersectional feminism is crucial,’ they say as we lean against the wall of the Royal Concert Hall. ‘Groups like this are important because they keep your hope up. It keeps us all going.’
Featured Image Credit: Rosa Scotland
