Women in Congress wear black to the State of the Union to support Time's Up, #MeToo

Lauren Tuck
·News Editor
·3 min read
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., center seated, with other House members wearing black in support the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, pose for a group photo ahead of tonight’s State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 30, 2018. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., center seated, with other House members wearing black in support the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, pose for a group photo ahead of tonight’s State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 30, 2018. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

During President Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress last year, a group of Democratic women lawmakers wore white pantsuits and dresses as a nod to the women’s suffragette movement. On Tuesday night, for the State of the Union, sartorial statements once again stood out in the crowd in the Chambers of Congress on Capitol Hill.

Instead of white, though, a generally positive color symbolizing goodness, light, beginnings, and possibility, many chose to go with black, following the lead of Golden Globes attendees who did so to bring visibility to the Time’s Up movement as well as stand in solidarity with victims of sexual assault and harassment.

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U.S. Reps. Nancy Pelosi, Tammy Duckworth, Dianne Feinstein, Jackie Speier, and others all participated in the dress code for a cause, with House Democrats coming together before the president’s address for a #SOTUBlackout photo op.

“This is a culture change that is sweeping the country, and Congress is embracing it,” Speier, a Democrat from California, who’s responsible for launching #MeTooCongress on social media, told HuffPost.

However, it wasn’t just Time’s Up pins and black ensembles that SOTU attendees used to communicate their platforms. There were also red Recy Taylor buttons, purple ribbons to raise awareness about the opioid epidemic, migrating butterflies to represent immigrants and “Dreamers,” kente cloths to “stand in solidarity with people from you-know-what countries,” and more.

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