Chelsea Handler Organizes Utah “March on Main”

Image by Facebook

By Jeffrey Boxer January 21, 2017

Utah organizers chose to schedule the state’s Women’s March for Monday, January 23, the day that the 2017 Utah state legislative session begins.

Chelsea Handler decided that she could not wait that long.

In solidarity with Saturday’s Women’s March on Washington, Handler organized a separate protest in Park City, Utah. According to the Facebook event, The March on Main was created “to stand in solidarity with the rest of our country in demonstrating our respect for freedom, human rights, our safety and health, and in recognizing that the diversity of our country is our greatest strength.”

#WOMENSMARCH #MARCHONMAIN pic.twitter.com/QKHmf1LbIe

— Chelsea Handler (@chelseahandler) January 21, 2017

Estimates of the crowd size vary, but thousands of people marched with the former Chelsea Lately host. The Sundance Film Festival, which is not affiliated with the protest, tweeted a video of the masses to its more than 700,000 followers.

The independently organized #WomensMarch, led by @chelseahandler is underway. #MarchOnMain pic.twitter.com/SyFPLqZfcn

— SundanceFilmFestival (@sundancefest) January 21, 2017

Speakers included civil rights icon Dolores Huerta, actresses Aisha Tylor, Connie Britton and Mary McCormack, and Salt Lake City Mayor Jackie Biskupski. Handler was raised as a Reform Jew and had a Bat Mitzvah, but her mother was a Mormon.

Jeffrey Boxer is the Deputy Digital at the Forward. Contact him at boxer@forward.com, or follow him on Twitter @jeffboxer.

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