At the end of the first New Hampshire House session in March, I rose to give a speech at the end of the day during unanimous consent.

During this time, if someone objects it requires three fifths of the House to allow you to continue to speak.

While speaking of the danger garment workers faced from uncaring men that owned and operated the factories where they worked, Democrats rose and objected to my speech.

My speech was about silencing women - and they tried to silence me.

After failing to deny me the right to speak, the majority of the Democrats paraded out of the chamber.

The text of my speech is in the right side bar, and links to the video are in the X posts embedded below.

Thank you Mr Speaker,

I rise today to honor Women’s History Month.

In March 1911 a fire started inside the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City and as the 146 women working inside rushed to exit they discovered the doors were locked to keep them working. They all died.

These women, silenced in life, spoke loudly in death leading to greater protection for workers. This tragedy also added to the momentum for the women’s suffrage movement. Just 9 years later, women gained the right to vote. We gained our voice.

While we today have our voice at the ballot box and in the legislature, too often women still stay silent to keep the peace or out of fear. A woman forced to keep quiet in potentially dangerous situations is encouraged to become a victim through inaction. How often do we ask women to speak out against domestic abuse, yet they are still afraid they will be ignored so they continue to suffer?

One hundred five years ago, women gained the right to vote. Some 140 of us in this chamber have a strong voice to stand, vote and speak for those who have elected us. When women are silenced, it hurts us all.

We stand today at a pivotal moment. Women who have been silenced are gaining back their voices.

And indeed, in 2011 on the 100th anniversary of Women’s History Month President Barack Obama said that “there is still work to be done before women achieve true parity.”

But what is parity? Is it the EQUAL opportunity to speak up for yourself, your safety, your emotional needs? Or is it the erasing of women, women’s spaces, women’s sports and women’s voices?

Women thought that the kind thing to do was to make space and hold their tongues, but rather than finding a tolerable compromise they were pushed another foot for every inch they gave. They had to violate every boundary they held, to yield to men and their self esteem while forsaking their own.

Women were on a path to become history, not make history.

 

One hundred fourteen years ago, women across the nation let the women working in the garment shops know they were not alone. That they need not be silent. That they need not accept danger just to make men more comfortable.

We have a choice to make. Our children and grandchildren are watching.

Will we stand with those women and girls who are reclaiming their voices, reclaiming their spaces, and reclaiming their right to succeed or fail on their own merits?

Or will we roll over and make this the first Women ARE History Month?

I ask you to stand with me, and with the President who just signed a proclamation declaring March 2025 Women’s History Month,  for women’s rights. To tell women and girls that they matter, that their voices matter, and that their boundaries matter.

We must overcome the campaign to silence women, or women ourselves will BECOME history.

Representative Erica Layon

March 6, 2025