Why were Democratic women wearing white during the State of the Union?

Dozens of members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus were wearing white during President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday.

The choice of a common theme in clothing isn’t new for Democrats, with some having worn pink during Trump’s 2025 joint address to Congress.

This time some of the women wore white, with New Jersey Rep. Nellie Pou posting a photo of the Democratic Women’s Caucus on the steps of the U.S. Capitol:

“Women are not safe in Trump’s America, as costs keep rising, health care slips out of reach, and violence becomes a daily headline,” she said. “Today we wear white, just like our ancestors did when they fought for rights. Different time, same fight.”

Some members of the caucus also wore pins that read “Stand With Survivors,” a reference to the release of files related to the criminal investigation into convicted financier Jeffrey Epstein, which Democrats accuse the Trump administration of blocking.

Members of the caucus had also worn white during the 2024 State of the Union address, doing so in protest of attacks on reproductive rights.

According to the Greenwich Historical Society, suffragettes wore white during their push to obtain the right to vote for women in the U.S. The color symbolizes purity according to the society, and has been worn by women’s rights activists throughout the history of the U.S., including the push for the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.