Activists stand outside of the White House on Saturday, Aug. 16. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
LGBTQ+ activists are expected to join more than two million Americans across the country, including in the D.C. metro area, for a nationwide “No Kings” day protest against the Trump administration’s “antidemocratic” policies and actions scheduled for Saturday, Oct. 18.
The Oct. 18 protests will follow a similar June 14 series of “No Kings” protests organized by a coalition of local, state, and national progressive organizations, including LGBTQ advocacy organizations, led and coordinated by Indivisible Action, the group that came up with the idea of the No Kings protests. The same coalition is organizing the Oct. 18 protests.
“As President Trump continues to escalate his violent authoritarian attacks on our freedoms – including increasing militarization of our nation’s cities and the threat of a federal government shutdown – the No Kings October 18th day of action has surpassed 2,110 local protests and rallies that are being planned across all 50 states,” Indivisible Action said in a Sept. 30 statement.
“That makes the events on October 18 on track to surpass the June 14 No Kings day of action over the summer, which saw more than five million people protesting across all 50 states,” the statement says.
On its website, Indivisible Action notes that the federal government shutdown, which started Oct. 1 and which it says the Trump administration helped to bring about, is yet another reason for people to turnout out for the No Kings anti-Trump protests on Oct. 18.
The website, which includes a directory of all the known scheduled protests nationwide so far, shows that one of the D.C. No Kings protests will take place Oct. 18 from 12-3 p.m. at Pennsylvania Avenue and 3rd Street, N.W. near the U.S. Capitol.
It shows that another group of No Kings protesters from Arlington, Va., will gather at 11 a.m. on the Virginia side of the Memorial Bridge and march across the bridge into D.C. to join a No Kings rally on the National Mall.
According to the website listings, other No Kings protests were scheduled to take place at various times on Oct. 18 in other parts of Arlington, Alexandria, and Falls Church in Virginia as well as in locations in suburban Maryland, including Silver Spring, Takoma Park, and Chevy Chase.
Among the LGBTQ advocacy organizations participating in the Oct. 18 No Kings protests are the Human Rights Campaign and the National LGBTQ Task Force.
“A core principle behind all No Kings events is a commitment to nonviolent action,” the Indivisible Action statement says. “We expect all participants to seek to de-escalate any potential confrontation with those who disagree with our values and to act lawfully at these events,” it says. “Weapons of any kind, including those legally permitted, should not be brought to events.”
In a separate statement, Indivisible Action points out that the June 14 No Kings protests were held on that date because it was the day of President Trump’s 79th birthday, for which the president arranged for a military parade in downtown D.C.
“The president thinks his rule is absolute,” the statement says. “But in America, we don’t have kings, and we won’t back down against chaos, corruption, and cruelty. Our peaceful movement is only getting bigger,” it says.
When asked by a reporter at the White House what he thought about the No Kings protests shortly before the June 14 protests took place, Trump replied, “I don’t feel like a king. I have to go through hell to get stuff approved,” according to a report by Newsweek.
“A king would say ‘I’m not going to get this … he wouldn’t have to call up [House Speaker] Mike Johnson and [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune and say, ‘Fellas you’ve got to pull this off’ and after years we get it done. No, no, we’re not a king, we’re not a king at all,” the Newsweek report quoted him as saying.
Information about the time and location of the No Kings protests on Oct. 18 in the D.C. area and nationwide can be accessed at mobilize.us/nokings.
The National LGBT Media Association represents 13 legacy publications in major markets across the country with a collective readership of more than 400K in print and more than 1 million + online. Learn more here: NationalLGBTMediaAssociation.com.
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