“We want freedom, we deserve justice, we believe in equality.”
This was the mantra that was chanted as the seventh annual Idaho Women’s March welcomed thousands of Idahoans to vocalize their feelings about the state of women’s healthcare in Idaho.
The 2025 Idaho Women’s March took place just two days before the presidential inauguration, a continuation of the movement that began in 2017 as a response to Donald Trump’s first term in office.
“Is anyone getting déjà vu?” Yvonne Shen, a senior at Boise High School said as she invited attendees to join her on the Idaho State Capitol’s steps.
Idaho House Representative Soñia Galaviz was one of the many women who gave a speech at the march.
Galaviz is not only a Representative for District 16, but has been an Idaho public school teacher for over 20 years. Galaviz’s speech highlighted the power of education for young women and the long-standing effects of the recent anti-DEI legislature.
“If you educate a girl, you educate a nation,” Galaviz said. “Educating our girls impacts entire families, communities and our country. We know that globally when our girls are educated they are healthier, safer and sheltered from abuse. They invest more in their community and they contribute more to society. These women help shape future generations and lead by example for those around them. I am grateful for the education and example strong women have been to me in my life.”
Other speakers at the march included Betty Richardson, co-founder of Idaho Women Forward, Senator Melissa Wintrow, who shared a deeply personal story of hope from the end of her mother’s battle with cancer, Gabrielle Wright and Abigail Wallace, local high school students advocating for youth civic engagement and Ani Carrell, president of Boise State University’s Black Student Association and founder of the Student Liberation Collective.
At 3 p.m., the women concluded their speeches and invited the crowd to step down from the steps of the Capitol and hold hands with one another — a symbol of unity, love and resistance.
Photo by Emily Carmela Nelson
“I am here because I am a grandma, a woman and an ally of the LGBTQIA+ community. I believe what’s happening in Idaho and across the nation is despicable,” Carolyn Blackhurst, an attendee of the march, said. “I want to use my voice and make a difference in the community.”
Blackhurst attended the first Idaho Women’s March in 2017 and has lived in Idaho for the majority of her life. She held a sign that read “My grandchildren will know I was not SILENT (and this Grandma is pissed as f**k)”.
“When Trump was elected for the first time, my focus in my activism came from the perspective of being a woman of faith in my community and the importance of taking a stand,” Blackhurst said. “This time around I thought — ‘Who am I now?’ I still am [a woman of faith], but I’m also a grandma. My granddaughter should have agency over her own body. I felt called to embrace that perspective. [My grandkids] are going to know that grandma showed up and she was not silent.”
Photo by Emily Carmela Nelson
Rose Renteria, a graduate of Boise State University, attended the march with a few close friends.
“There’s a sense of community here,” Renteria said. “Ever since the election this year everyone has been down in the dumps about the potential of communities being taken away. People are scared to go outside and don’t know what a true life is.”
Renteria said that the immigrant women in her life played a large role in the reason she chose to support the Idaho Women’s March.
“[I’m thinking of] my immigrant women who are fearful of going outside and doing small tasks such as going grocery shopping with the fear of ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) coming after them, or even just white men staring at them and making them feel unsafe,” Renteria said. “Once I got my driver’s license, I had to take a big step and become the forefront for my mom — going grocery shopping and doing simple everyday tasks. Even driving can be scary for a lot of people because you don’t know what kind of police officer you’re going to get or if someone will be there to help you.”
Photo by Emily Carmela Nelson
Geri Lynn Mcelheney Green was another attendee of the march. At 23, Green faced the impossible — she found out she was pregnant with a baby with skeletal dysplasia, a rare genetic disorder.
“His chest cavity was too small for his lungs and he wasn’t going to survive,” Green said. “I was lucky enough to be able to have that option [to get an abortion] at eight months, and I needed it, because my mental health was not okay. I still had the responsibility of a 10-month-old baby at home and I still had to go to work as a self-employed hair artist. I had to do what was best for me and my family.”
Green held a poster that said, “Nasty women make history”.
“Sometimes we have to stand up and say what’s right,” Green said. “We’re not going to put up with people’s s**t anymore — especially these men who want to make decisions when they don’t have any idea what it’s like to be a woman and make decisions like these. I’m here to rise above and kick some a**.”
