A group of Democratic women made their voices heard — without saying a word — during President Donald Trump‘s first joint address to Congress in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, February 28.
According to CNN, many of the 66 female Democratic representatives and delegates wore white to show support for Planned Parenthood, reproductive rights, equal pay, paid leave and affordable child care. The move was a nod to the women’s suffrage movement, which encouraged others to wear white as a sign of solidarity and symbol of purity.
“We wear white to unite against any attempts by the Trump administration to roll back the incredible progress women have made in the last century, and we will continue to support the advancement of all women,” Florida Democratic Rep. Lois Frankel said in a statement.
As we celebrate the start of #WomensHistoryMonth today, we pledge to oppose ANY attempts to peel away women’s rights – we won’t go back! pic.twitter.com/jP6ORnnmBu
— Rep. Lois Frankel (@RepLoisFrankel) March 1, 2017
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi shared a photo of the women in their coordinating attire via Twitter. “Tonight, our Democratic #WomenWearWhite in support of women’s rights — in spite of a @POTUS who doesn’t!” she wrote on Tuesday.
Some women also wore white on Election Day in November, just one month after a 2005 video surfaced of Trump, now 70, bragging to Billy Bush that he could “grab” women “by the pussy.” In January, less than a month after taking office, POTUS signed a ban on federal money that went to international groups that performed or provided information about abortions.
Men and women who are in opposition of Trump have fought back in other ways, too. On January 21, nearly 500,000 people (roughly three times the number who attended Trump’s inauguration, according to the New York Times) attended the Women’s March in Washington to voice their concerns.
