After being silenced last week by Republicans, who called her speech a “temper tantrum,” Brown maintained that she had not done anything wrong by using the word in a debate about female reproductive rights. Democrats hastily organized the performance on Friday after playwright Eve Ensler, who wrote the Vagina monologues, contacted Michigan state Sen. Rebekah Warren saying she wanted to help support Brown and Rep. Barb Byrum, reported the Detroit News.
Byrum was silenced by the Republicans on Thursday when she tried to comment on a proposal to ban vasectomy for men unless it was necessary to save a man’s life, suggesting that it was the male equivalent of a ban Republican lawmakers are seeking to end abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
Republican lawmakers maintain that they silenced Brown for the “no means no,” portion of her comment, saying that she was comparing their legislation to rape, and that the restrictions in the bill were intended to keep abortion clinics safe and sterile. Republican Floor Leader Jim Stamas told the Detroit News that Brown and Byrum had violated rules on decorum. Monday night’s event attracted about 3,000 people, men and women of all ages and from different parts of the country, according to the Detroit News.
