When Denver resident Meredith Gabow turns 71 on Nov. 2, the day before the midterm election, all she wants people to do is vote.
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“My birthday wish, all I’m asking as a gift: Vote,” she said, standing on the steps of the state Capitol on Saturday.
Donning a red, white and blue headband and beaded tie, Gabow was among several hundred who gathered in Denver’s Civic Center on Saturday for a No Kings demonstration that organizers hoped would encourage people to vote.
Events, ranging from block parties to rallies to walks to the polls, were planned in more than 70 communities across Colorado from Fort Collins and Steamboat Springs to Trinidad and Cortez and Grand Junction. Nearly 3,000 communities nationwide hosted events, No Kings organizers said.
Although organizers said the events were designed to be nonpartisan, most in Denver carried signs or wore shirts criticizing President Donald Trump’s administration and policies. Dozens of sign holders lined Lincoln Street, cheering as passing cars honked their horns, and several people took photos with people in costume.
Jennifer Kincheloe, 60, came to Saturday’s event dressed as the Virgin Mary, with blue lipstick, a gold crown and a sign that read “Love Each Other.”
That’s the message she wanted to spread Saturday.
“We need to stop demonizing each other, and we need policies that serve the American people, our allies and the planet,” she said.
A crowd left Civic Center about 1:30 p.m. and marched slowly through downtown, as organizers led marchers in chants. Some people danced, others blew bubbles, and one woman picked up trash along the route.
Pretty Goni-Kotzur and her daughter marched together in the crowd down Lincoln Street. The two came from Aurora to participate.
This was the first No Kings protest Goni-Kotzur, 35, has attended, although her daughter has gone to several protests and participated in a school walkout, she said.
“I’m very proud of her for being able to recognize when the rights of others and the safety of others are at risk,” she said.
She hoped the protest would remind people that their vote matters and encourage people to show up to the polls or vote early.
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“These things that are happening are despicable, and they’re preventable,” Goni-Kotzur said. “I feel like we have just completely forgotten that we are the ones who vote these people in. We are the ones who have the power.”
For Esther Rodriguez, 73, it is far from the first time she’s gathered on the steps of the Capitol to protest the Trump administration.
“I’ve moved from retirement to professional protester,” Rodriguez, a Denver resident, joked.
It’s important to her to show up, not just for retired Americans but for the next generation.
“I’m going to do everything I can to participate in active resistance against what is happening in this country,” Rodriguez said. “We have to preserve our democracy.”
Saturday’s crowd appeared to be smaller than in past demonstrations, Gabow and others who have shown up to each of Denver’s No Kings demonstrations said.
“It is frightening,” Lucila Williams, 48, said. “I went to some (protests) that weren’t No Kings-branded, and all of them were still bigger than this.”
Chris Anderson, 70, agreed the crowd seemed smaller than past marches but said he didn’t think much of it.
“The action was to get people out to vote, not necessarily to march,” he said.
“Marching is how we found each other, and now we carry that energy to the polls,” Carlos Álvarez-Aranyos, founder of the Boulder-based group American Opposition, said to the crowd at Civic Center.
“Kings don’t fear crowds,” he continued. “Kings fear the moment a crowd becomes a count. So stand up, and be counted.”
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