CHICAGO _ About 150 protesters gathered near Trump International Hotel and Tower in downtown Chicago Tuesday to show their opposition to Donald Trump in the wake of his comments about his treatment of women.
The demonstrators, who were mostly women, held signs that read "Real men get consent" and "Keep your tiny hands to yourself" in reference to remarks Trump made in a 2005 recording for "Access Hollywood," in which he bragged about kissing and groping women without their consent. The Republican presidential nominee called his lewd comments in the recently disclosed recording "locker room talk."
"This is not appropriate conversation. This is not how we should be talking about women, our children, our people in America," said Brittany Meyer, 25, who lives in the city's Wicker Park neighborhood and attended Tuesday's protest. "It's important that all of us make our voices heard and to let people know that this is not acceptable, that we cannot be out here saying things like this and let that go by and just pass it off as locker room talk."
In the recording, made public earlier this month, Trump says, "You know I'm automatically attracted to beautiful _ I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the p----. You can do anything."
A number of women have come forward alleging that Trump had groped or assaulted them. Trump has denied their accounts. First lady Michelle Obama has denounced Trump's comments, and many Republican leaders have pulled their support for him.
On Tuesday, protesters chanted "GOP hands off me" and "Love trumps hate" as they stood on the sidewalk across the street from Trump Tower.
"We are just here to be vocal and visible and say we're women, we're voters, we're citizens and we won't have this man represent us," said Alicia Swiz, an organizer of the protest as well as SlutTalk, a performance series designed to create a dialogue to destigmatize that word.
"Donald Trump's language is violent," Swiz said. "The message I think is really for the women who are living in this world and having to navigate these things all the time. I know here in Chicago you walk down the street and you're getting catcalled constantly no matter what part of the city you're in."
A handful of Trump supporters stood in front of Trump Tower to show their support for the candidate. Some of them chanted "Lock her up," referring to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, and held signs calling Clinton a lesbian and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, a rapist.
At the counterprotest, Suzzanne Monk, 44, said she found it hypocritical to attack Trump for comments he made years ago when Clinton has supported her husband, who was accused of unwanted sexual advances. Bill Clinton has denied the allegations.
"I've heard women make more crude remarks personally. And frankly, if you've listened to one hip-hop album, you've listened to worse," Monk said. "We are here to show that we don't believe in these allegations that are being falsely smeared about our candidate."
