Photos: Women's March participants endure frigid temperatures to demand gender equality

Hundreds locally marched to the state capitol in support of women's equality.

It included families like Lynn Smith-Evans who wanted younger kids to take in a protest that supports their ideals.

"This is my niece and her mom is home sick," she said. "So this is Vivian and this is her first march and we've been sending her mama pictures and her mom it at home crying happy tears because her daughter is involved in something positive for the world."

The march started at Western Sculpture Park, about a mile away from the capitol in frigid temperatures. A rally on the steps of the building featured speakers from diverse backgrounds, part of organizers' goal to make the event inclusive despite discord at the national event. Though they came for different reasons -- reproductive rights, environmental concerns, paid parental leave, affordable child care, pay equality and more -- they agreed that women need to keep speaking up.

Wendy Winghoffer, who went to the first march in 2017, said she needs to feel connected during this time.

"Up until that point (in 2017), I felt so powerless," she said. "We came here to the Women's March and that was the turning point for me, was, oh my gosh look at all these people, oh my gosh together we can do this. I just kind of wanted to come back and capture that."

More than 20,000 signed up attend on the event's facebook page, but organizers around the country say cold temperatures drew smaller crowds. The temperatures in St. Paul during the march were in the single digits.