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The nationwide protests against Donald Trump stretched into their sixth day on Sunday as demonstrators gathered in cities including New York, Seattle, and Los Angeles to voice their opposition to the president-elect.
Following Trump's upset victory in the Electoral College over former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, protests swept not only the nation but the entire world. San Francisco, Paris, Mexico City, Chicago, London, and Washington, D.C. joined in protest of the 2016 election, with demonstrators chanting "Love trumps hate!" and "Donald Trump has got to go!"
Of particular concern were the rollback of LGBT rights under a Trump presidency, the future of women's access to reproductive health, and the threatened deportation of millions of immigrants, a policy Trump doubled down on his support of during an interview with 60 Minutes. The Republican told the program's Lesley Stahl, in a segment aired Sunday, that he plans to deport 2 milliion to 3 million undocumented people almost immediately.
He also said he still plans on erecting a wall between the U.S. and Mexico to stop the flow of undocumented immigrants into the country.
A crowd of 8,000 people marched on Los Angeles's Wilshire Boulevard over the weekend, shouting phrases like "Show the world what the popular vote looks like!" and "Not my president!" An estimated 300 protesters in Berlin gathered outside the U.S. Embassy, while San Franciscans trekked from the Golden Gate Bridge to Ocean Beach.
"I think this is a really promising show of support for women, people of color, immigrants, Muslims, and for survivors of violence, and I think it is important to be here and be part of that support," Lizzy Lovinger, 28, told NBC News in response to the weekend's demonstrations. For Lovinger, a queer woman who lives in New York City, this weekend's march in Union Square was her first protest.
Kimie Liu, who also attended the New York rally, agreed that it was important to show solidarity with those who stand to be harmed most by a Trump presidency. She attended the protest with her 14-month old son.
"We need to protest what we believe to be a disturbing turn in politics this week," Liu told The New York Times outside Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan. "My son is here because this is the future. Trump stands for so many things I find abhorrent, and we won't sit down when hate wins. We stand for what we believe in."
Others, however, were afraid of what a Trump presidency could mean for their lives. Lin Justin Ross, who carpooled with friend to attend the protests, is a transgender man who lives in New Jersey. Under a Trump presidency, he has no idea what's next.
"When Trump won, my first thought was I needed to go back into the closet," Ross told the Times.
During the campaign, Trump promised to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn the court's 2015 ruling on same-sex marriage, but he appears to be backing off many of his promises. The president-elect had touted the repeal of the Affordable Care Act but has struck a more conciliatory tone in recent days, following a meeting with sitting president Barack Obama.
Above: Demonstrators march up Fifth Avenue during a protest against the election of President-elect Donald Trump in New York.
While celebrities such as Michael Moore have joined the demonstrations, Bernie Sanders showed support for the protests during an interview with USA Today.
"People are angry," the Democrat said. "People are upset. And they want to express their point of view that they are very frightened, in very, very strong disagreement with Mr. Trump, who has made bigotry the cornerstone of his campaign. I think that people are saying, 'Mr. Trump, we have come too far in this country fighting discrimination and bigotry. We're not going back. And if you're going to continue that effort, you're going to have to take us on.'"
Additional protests are planned for Inauguration Day, when Trump is officially sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.
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