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Why were Democratic women wearing white to Trump's speech?

Democratic members of Congress wear white for U.S. President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on February 28, 2017. (Getty) Democratic members of Congress wear white for U.S. President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on February 28, 2017. (Getty)

Democratic members of Congress wear white for U.S. President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on February 28, 2017. (Getty)

Allison Graves
By Allison Graves March 1, 2017

If you watched Trump’s address, you might have noticed a sea of white.

Dozens of Democratic women in Congress filled the aisles of Trump’s address donned in the color.

Saying it symbolized their efforts to support women's progress and honor the suffrage movement, Rep. Lois Frankel, D-Fla., the chair of the House Democratic Women’s Working Group, directed dozens of women to wear white  — an official color of the suffragette movement.  

"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," Frankel said in a statement before the speech. "We will not go back."

The suffragette movement fought for women’s right to vote in the early 20th century and before. In the United States, women won the right to vote, called suffrage, in 1920. 

Today, Democratic congresswomen wore white outfits during the chamber’s first votes, which included House minority leader Nancy Pelosi.

Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee for president, was known for wearing white at some of the most memorable political events of the past year including the night she officially accepted the nomination at the Democratic National Convention, the third presidential debate and the day of Trump’s inauguration. Clinton never said she wore white as a nod to suffragettes, but some wondered at the symbolism of the color.

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Our Sources

Vox, "House Democratic women are wearing white — a symbol of women’s suffrage — to Trump’s speech," Feb. 28


History.com, "Woman in White: Hillary Clinton’s Suffragette Tribute," Oct. 21, 2016.

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