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Hundreds of Granite State progressives gathered at the State House in Concord on Saturday to express their anger at President Donald Trump, DOGE advisor Elon Musk, and a myriad of policy positions from abortion restrictions to the patriarchy in general — with a shoutout to Black Lives Matter along the way.

The event was promoted as part of International Women’s Day, and New Hampshire Democratic Party chair Ray Buckley boosted it online. “Defend our democracy! Stand up for human rights!” the poster read.

Protester Erin Marlow showed up to support women and oppose Trump.

The Women’s Day protest in Concord, N.H. on March 8, 2025.

“The most important thing to me is protecting our democracy and making sure (Trump) doesn’t take over and try to become authoritarian,” Marlow said. “I think they already are acting in an authoritarian manner and that to me is the most important thing to resist.”

Resistance took many forms on Saturday, whether it was an elderly woman beating a drum decorated with a peace sign, the Bon Jovi sing-along, or the pink “pussy hats” sported by a few protestors.

The protest is part of the 50501 Movement slate of national protests targeting the Trump administration. 50501 bills itself as a grassroots organization and is aligned with The Political Revolution PAC, a small off-shoot organization that came out of Sen. Bernie Sanders’ (I-Vt.) 2016 presidential campaign.

Protest organizers took up position in front of the State House with a PA system and a table to sign up new volunteers. While organizers brought signs for the crowd, many brought their own. Messages ran the gamut with “This Is Not Normal,” “Hex The Patriarchy,” “Stop The Coup,” “Resist Fascism,” “Abortion Is Healthcare,” “Black Lives Matter,” “Stop The Bro-ligarchy,” and “Fire The Liar,” among others.

There were even a few messages with religious themes: “For Lent, let’s give up fascism.”

Notably missing from the event were any prominent elected New Hampshire Democrats.

The boisterous crowd cheered when passing drivers honked their car horns in approval, danced along to music, and came up with multiple variations of the ubiquitous protest chant “Hey hey/ho ho.” Sometimes Donald Trump had to go, other times, it was Musk.

Marlow hopes Saturday’s protest, and others like it across the country, can help build a movement that can win at the ballot box. 

“This shows the rest of the country that people are not happy with the way that it’s going, and it shows the rest of the world that Americans are not happy with the way things are going. It gives people the confidence to keep going, keep resisting, and be really active in the next election,” Marlow said.

A major focus of the protests was opposition to laws limiting women’s sports and spaces to biological females. That inspired a small group of supporters of girls-only sports to show up as well.

“We have a small group but we have a dedicated group,” said Bronwyn Sims.

Sims said she and her compatriots hoped to engage with the other protestors and educate them about their support for biological women.

“Some people seem to be confused about our position on this. We are not against transgender rights, we are not against anyone who chooses to be transgender,” Sims said. “We also believe that women and girls have rights, and we do have the right to our own spaces and our own sports, our own bathrooms and our own prisons. It really doesn’t have to do with being against anybody.”