Women leaders of the House of Representatives are sending a political message by wearing white to President Donald Trump’s State of the Union on Tuesday.
The chair of the House Democratic Women’s Working Group, Rep. Lois Frankel (Fla.), urged female lawmakers last week to wear “suffragette white” to Trump’s address.
“We’ll honor all those who came before us and send a message of solidarity that we’re not going back on our hard-earned rights,” Frankel said.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) tweeted that she’s wearing white with a kente cloth tonight to honor women like Alice Paul “who led the movement” and women like Ida B. Wells “who were excluded from it.”
The sea of white outfits Tuesday night show just how many women were elected to Congress in November’s midterm election. There are currently 102 women serving in the House of Representatives, a record.
The newly elected leaders gathered before Trump’s address to speak on the importance of gender equality.
“Tonight, we expect the occupant of the White House to utter the customary phrase, ‘The state of our union is strong,’” Pressley said during the press conference. “If that is true, it has nothing to do with the Trump administration.”
The president is delivering his address at 9 p.m. ET.
