Chicago Won't Hold Women's March This Year

Photo of 2017 march in Chicago by Paul Beaty/AP

The move comes amid controversy involving national march leaders, but Chicago organizers, who will plan an alternative event, cite other reasons.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

December 27 2018 9:57 AM EST

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Chicago won't hold a Women's March this year, organizers announced, citing high security costs and a shortage of volunteers.

Chicago activists said the decision wasn't related to controversies over national march leaders' association with homophobic, anti-Semitic Nation of Islam head Louis Farrakhan, the Associated Press reports. But they did say that distancing the Chicago event from the national organization was a "side benefit," according to the AP.

"That sort of infighting within the movement is very painful. It's very painful to watch," said Women's March Chicago board member Sara Kurensky. "When a handful of leaders ... say something, they are not speaking for an entire movement."

Tamika Mallory and Linda Sarsour, national co-presidents of the march, have been under fire for their association with Farrakhan, who is known for sexist, anti-Semitic, and anti-LGBTQ statements. Mallory attended an incendiary speech by Farrakhan in March and for some time refused to denounce him, and Sarsour defended both Mallory and the Nation of Islam.

Finally, in November, after criticism from activist celebrities including Alyssa Milano and Debra Messing, the national march leaders issued a statement distancing themselves from Farrakhan while standing up for Mallory and Sarsour. But Teresa Shook, who first came up with the idea of a Women's March in response to Donald Trump's election as president, has called on Mallory, Sarsour, and other national march leaders to resign.