Congresswoman Katherine Clark says she won’t attend Trump’s inauguration

Women around the country have committed to protesting the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, and now a congresswoman from Massachusetts has announced that she won’t participate in the Jan. 20 ceremony.

Representative Katherine Clark announced in a Facebook statement that she cannot “contribute to the normalization of the president elect’s divisive rhetoric by participating in the inauguration.”

Clark, a Democrat, wrote that while she respects the office of the president, she hoped Trump would use the transition period to move away from his “divisive policies.” That has not happened, she said.

Clark represents the 5th District of Massachusetts, covering multiple Boston suburbs to the north and west, including Medford, Framingham, Woburn and Melrose.

“Families in my district are fearful that the anti-woman, anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim and divisive promises that drove the Trump campaign will become the policies affecting the health and safety of every American,” Clark wrote. “I had hoped that the president-electwould use the transition period and his appointments to change course and fulfill his promise to be a president for all Americans; however, this has not been the case.”

Clark is one of a small number of Congress members who have stated they will not attend Trump’s swearing-in ceremony, usually a highly coveted event among representatives.

But she isn’t the only person to state her objection.

More than 170,000 women respondedon Facebook that they will take part in the Women’s March on Washington on Jan. 21, the day after the inauguration. March organizers said the action is meant to “send a bold message to our new administration on their first day in office.”

During interviews with the Boston Globe, other MassachusettsHouse and Senate members — all Democrats — said that they would be attending the inauguration”out of respect for the American democratic tradition.”

An email to a Trump representative was not immediately answered.