Silenced Lawmaker To Perform Vagina Monologues

There’s going to be a lot of talk about vaginas around the Capitol in Lansing, Mich., mere days after a female lawmaker was banned from speaking in the state House after she dared to utter the word “vagina” during a debate on an anti-abortion bill. At least nine female legislators are going to join playwright Even Ensler Monday night for a reading of her famous 1996 play, The Vagina Monologues, on the Capitol steps, reports the Detroit Free Press.  

State Rep. Lisa Brown, who initially sparked the controversy Wednesday by saying, “I'm flattered that you're all so interested in my vagina, but no means no,” will take part in the reading, reports the Detroit News.

“Censoring a woman for saying a word that is a body part that 51 percent of their constituents have is a repression that we have not and should not ever witness in this country,” Ensler said.

Brown penned an op-ed piece for the Detroit News Saturday in which she expresses her “outrage that this legislative body wants to dictate not only what women can do, but also what we can say.” Although male lawmakers “have no problem passing laws about my vagina … when I dared mention its name, they became outraged.”