Hundreds rally in SLO for women’s rights amid Trump, Musk purges of government workers
More than 400 people showed up outside the San Luis Obispo Superior Court building on Saturday to speak up for women’s rights on International Women’s Day.
The crowd gathered at around 11 a.m. and quickly grew to hundreds of people protesting at all corners of the Monterey and Santa Rosa streets intersection.
The crowd chanted slogans and phrases in support of women, non-binary and gender equality rights.
Tom Fulks, chair of San Luis Obispo County’s Democratic Party, was a speaker at the event and talked to The Tribune afterward.
At the core of the rally was the Trump administration’s “assault” on women, Fulks said.
“It started with Roe v. Wade being overturned, and all of these anti-DEI declarations and decrees,” Fulks said. “And it’s not just women— it’s basically the attacking of the fabric of our nation, the fabric of our community.”
Fulks said people showed up in protest to the “lawlessness” that’s had rippled effects down to San Luis Obispo County.
Communities in San Luis Obispo County as well as all over the United States must play this “radical guessing game” about what will happen to Medicare, Social Security and a slew of other federal programs that come under the knife of the current presidential administration, Fulks said.
“What the protest was against is the insanity coming out of our White House and coming out of (Elon) Musk,” Fulks said.
March organizer Morgan Rardin, who moved from the Bay Area to San Luis Obispo three years ago, has been community organizing ever since the overturning of Roe v. Wade.
The absence of a San Luis Obispo International Women’s Day event was what prompted Rardin to act.
“I looked around and I didn’t see anything else happening,” Rardin said.
In the span of 10 days, Rardin organized logistics and speakers for the event. One guest was San Luis Obispo poet laureate Caleb Nichols, according to Rardin. Representatives came and spoke from the League of Women Voters of San Luis Obispo County, progressive organizing group 50-50-51 and Indivisible—an advocacy group that another local organizer registered a protest with last month.
During the rally, Rardin spoke about breaking glass ceiling, reproductive rights and honoring women.
“It’s about realizing we can’t be quiet right now,” Rardin said. “We have to go back and fight again.”
The march came as Trump and Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has set its sights on dismantling federal agencies such as the U.S. Agency of International Development, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Department of Education.
The protest was organized and registered online via international advocacy group Women’s March, which connects community advocates to local protests.
“On International Women’s Day, we’re taking to the streets to fight back against the fascist takeover,” the web page said. “Join us to defend our rights, our bodies, and our future.”
It was the latest in a string of protests that have popped up around the county against Musk and Trump.
This story was originally published March 8, 2025 at 3:10 PM.
