Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in London today, as well as across the UK, in protest at the arrival of US President Donald Trump. However, the crowd wasn’t just made up of Brits.
“It’s really important to be here,” Amy Sparrow tells RightsInfo. She’s 38 and originally from Chicago, but has lived in the UK for five years. “It’s really important to show it’s not just a small minority of people in America who care about this, his actions affect a lot of people around the world,” she adds.
It’s fair to the say the American leader has caused quite the stir when it comes to human rights. From breaking up thousands of migrant children from their parents at the Mexican border and his controversial travel ban, to expressing distaste for the right to protest, he’s never far from the headlines.
‘I Might Be The Only American Someone Ever Talks Too’
Image Credit: Jem Collins / RightsInfo
For Amy, this gives her all the more reason to protest. “I might be the only American someone ever talks to,” she explains. “I have to be an example of a good American and not a Trump voter type of American.”
“Since I’ve been living here, I felt like I haven’t had a lot of control or opportunities to really express how I feel. This is a great opportunity to come to London to get out all the pent-up anger at the state of my country back home.”
I know how it feels to feel like a second-class citizen
Amy Sparrow
It’s also very much about rights for her too. “I’m fighting for my LGBT+ brothers and sisters. My mother is gay, my sister is gay. My sister has a baby with her wife and she has to adopt her own baby because she is scared her rights as a parent will get taken away from her. It makes me so angry I can’t even say the words I’m supposed to say.”
Gay rights are at the very heart of our human rights – the right to not be discriminated against is protected by law here in the UK, both as part of the Human Rights Convention and the Equalities Act 2010. The Human Rights Convention also protects our right to a family and private life.
While individuals in the US are not protected by the Human Rights Convention (which is a European treaty), they are protected by the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which the US has signed and ratified. As such, they are entitled to a broad range of human rights under international law. The Trump administration, however, stands accused of violating a number of these fundamental rights.
“[It’s about] immigration as well,” Amy tells RightsInfo. “I’m here on a residency visa, so I know how it feels to feel like a second-class citizen.”
‘My Kids Knew What Was Happening and They Think It’s Terrible’
Image Credit: Jem Collins / RightsInfo
Family is also the reason Mary McBride came to march with her two children, who both designed their own signs. “My kids knew what was happening and they think it’s terrible,” she tells RightsInfo.
“I think that it’s important to raise my voice and give my children a chance to raise their voice and say when something’s not right. So we’ve come down to be part of a big group to show that we don’t like him and we don’t want him here.”
We just believe it’s wrong and he’s being cruel. He’s damaging people for their lives
Mary McBride
Touching on his policies around immigration and the separation of child migrants, she adds: “We just believe it’s wrong and he’s being cruel. He’s damaging people for their lives, they’re going to have the effects of this for their whole lives and we just want to stand strong against that.”
However, she still hopes the President can be persuaded to change his mind on key rights issues. “He’s making terrible choices on every front, but everyone has a chance to change and do right. He could change and do right and we all have that capacity, but he’s just not doing that.”
