Dozens Gather in SF for Vigil After Trump Win

Dozens of people gathered in at least three cities across the Bay Area on Wednesday to express their discontent following former President Donald Trump’s reelection.

In Berkeley, about two dozen protesters and counterprotesters rallied at UC Berkeley’s Sproul Plaza. In San José, about 100 people took to the streets and marched, the East Bay Times reported. In San Francisco, several dozen gathered at Harvey Milk Plaza for a candlelight vigil and rally organized by the Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club and members of a queer dodgeball group.

Sarah Flashman, a child and family therapist, helped organize the vigil. It was similar to the one she had planned in Oakland following Trump’s first election in 2016.

“It was the most healing space I could find,” Flashman said of the 2016 vigil. “It ended up being really large, and it became my memory of that night.”

Flashman said she didn’t want her only memory of Trump’s second presidential victory to be of election returns favoring him.

“I didn’t want last night to be my memory of his win,” she said. “I wanted a new memory.”

The demonstrations were far more muted than in 2016, when thousands rallied in cities across the Bay Area, and at least 30 were arrested.

Attendees at Harvey Milk Plaza on Wednesday lit candles, played music and took turns using a microphone to voice their feelings about the prospects of another Trump presidency. Some expressed anger, others cried, but most focused on hope.

State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) took to the mic to warn about the possibility of continued Republican attacks on reproductive rights, LGBTQ people and immigrants in California.

“We need to be organized and prepared to fight back,” Weiner said, echoing a call to action Vice President Kamala Harris delivered earlier in the day during her concession speech.

“This is not a time to throw up our hands. This is a time to roll up our sleeves,” Harris said at a rally in Washington, D.C. “This is a time to organize, to mobilize and to stay engaged.”

As of Wednesday evening, Trump had garnered 295 Electoral College votes compared to Harris’ 226. Republicans also took control of the U.S. Senate, with 52 seats compared to Democrats’ 44. Four seats remain undecided, according to the Associated Press.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, there were 39 seats yet to be called. Republicans had 206, compared to Democrats’ 190. California will help decide control of Congress.

In San Francisco, many residents on Wednesday expressed feelings of shock, dejection and disbelief at Trump’s decisive victory, while others were relieved.

California was called early in favor of Harris. She garnered more than 57% of the vote, compared to Trump’s 40%. In San Francisco, the tally was swayed even more heavily in her favor, with about 80% of voters going for Harris compared to less than 17% for Trump.

South Bay Rep. Ro Khanna urged the Democratic Party to install new leadership after what he called a “colossal defeat,” saying voters “want the old faces out.”

“It’s time for people to gracefully step aside, who’ve been responsible for this loss and who’ve held on in some cases too long,” he told KQED. “And it’s time to let a new generation lead this party back.”

Victoria McGaughey, a 19-year-old trans woman, stumbled upon Wednesday evening’s vigil in San Francisco and decided to speak. She said she receives her hormone replacement therapy and gender care from county providers and was worried those benefits could end under a second Trump term.

“Donald Trump coming into power and wanting to take all of those things away,” McGaughey said. “I might not be able to access those things anymore.”

After the first election when she could vote, McGaughey said she didn’t plan on disengaging from politics.

“We have to keep up the fight and stay together because that’s the only way that we’re ever going to see change,” she said.