Story by Sunayana Prabhu, Photos by Patrick Olivero
RED BANK – The borough’s train station became the epicenter of resistance Saturday as nearly 1,500 people from more than 20 organizations marched in a rally to mark International Women’s Day. The powerful protest focused on multiple social justice issues, including women’s reproductive rights, immigrants’ rights, health care and the environment.
Organized by Red Bank Deputy Mayor Kate Triggiano, the theme of the march was solidarity. “Regardless of what your focus is on in our democracy, whether it’s the environment or immigrants’ rights or the cutting of Medicaid and social safety nets or the firing of our veterans – whatever your focus is, right now, we are all in this together.”
Triggiano has been organizing and helping organize marches and rallies in Red Bank for nine years.
“The whole world is watching,” she said, noting the significance of the upcoming New Jersey governor’s race. She emphasized creating change by coming together and taking action. “We are not powerless,” Triggiano said.
Marchers from across Monmouth County and beyond surged through the streets, expressing their collective frustration, passionately chanting slogans, donning costumes and waving handmade signs, all while walking in solidarity for women’s rights and broader social justice causes. Slogans on signs included “Healthcare is a Human Right,” “Anger and Love Fuel Resistance,” “Fund Medicare Not Golf Trips” and “Silence is Not an Option,” among many more focused on the Trump administration and its policies.
“We will continue to fight so that the government cannot and will no longer police our bodies,” said Layla Orlando, director of Health Equity and Wellness at Garden State Equality, one of the rally’s key speakers.
The march traversed Monmouth Street, Broad Street and West Front Street, concluding at Riverside Gardens Park where participants gathered to hear from a range of speakers who urged more political engagement from voters and advocated for human rights across all spectrums.
Among the speakers were area politicians and activists, including Red Bank council members Kristina Bonatakis and Laura Jannone, Monmouth County League of Women Voters president Evelyn Murphy, and Kaitlyn Wojtowicz, vice president of Public Affairs for the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey.
“The Trump administration poses great threats to access the entire range of reproductive health care services and bodily autonomy,” Wojtowicz said at the protest.
“Everyone has the right to their own body, to choose how they live their identity. That means that we will continue to fight so that the government cannot and will no longer police our bodies,” said Orlando, of Garden State Equality.
Suellen Simms, one of the co-founders of the Greater Red Bank Women’s Initiative who also organized the 2017 Women’s March in Red Bank, said, “Whether marching for immigration rights, women’s health care, criminal justice reform, gay rights, the environment, voting rights or just plain decency, who are you standing up for today?”
“For God’s sake, we must stand up.”
State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-11) also addressed the crowd about the importance of standing against what he described as a push toward “dictatorship” at the national level. “So much is at stake,” he said, including “mental health funding, special education funding, childcare support, protecting our public education system.”
“It’s OK to support conservative policies,” he said, but “this is not conservative policies. This is a version of dictatorship… we’re seeing across our country right now, and it ends this November.” He urged people to vote in this year’s elections.
The march attracted a diverse group of activists and community members, including many who had traveled to Red Bank from surrounding areas in Monmouth County. The protest was a grand display of multicultural activism. Throughout the march, participants chanted in multiple languages, addressing the rights of marginalized communities.
Ana Paola Pazmiño, executive director of Resistencia en Accion NJ, also spoke passionately about the importance of domestic workers’ rights and the need for immigrant justice. “We are asking the New Jersey government for a budget for the past two years. We need to educate and protect domestic workers amongst every woman because this is what really helps us to move forward as a society. Let’s also not forget that women’s rights are immigrant rights,” Paola Pazmiño said.
With widespread support from Democratic Party leaders and participating special interest and community organizations, speakers urged the crowd to vote and continue speaking out.
“As women, we not only need to vote, we need to run for office,” said Assemblywoman Luanne Peterpaul (D-11), noting that 51.1% of the United States is made up of women, something she called “our strength.”
“We need to use that to take our nation back.”
The article originally appeared in the March 13 – March 19, 2025 print edition of The Two River Times.
