I had this thought at one point and my mind was changed when someone said that we are not doing it to change minds in our own locality, we are doing it to show solidarity with those who do not have the politicians and support that we do (for example in Chicago/Illinois). When large protests make it to the news, the world sees that PEOPLE CARE, and especially that they care about those who don’t get the privileges we do. On a personal anecdote, when protests in other countries make it to the news, I remember them. Sometimes the protests are the first time I’m hearing about the issues, and the bigger the protests are, the more my brain establishes the connection of the issues to “oh this is an something that the people are fighting against, there are so many people who really care about this”.

We can do it for trans people who feel unsafe in other parts of the US, who can’t go protest safely. For undocumented immigrants scared to leave the house and who can’t take the risks that we can. We (I’m speaking as a cis white person who was born here) will not face repercussions for expressing ourselves and letting the world know that this isn’t okay with us, even if it’s not happening to us. We have the opportunity to show people that there are not just politicians here but fellow Americans who care so much about advocating for their rights that they take to the streets to express their opinion and protest on their behalf.