Planned Parenthood Lobby Day

Planned Parenthood Lobby Day: March 7^th, 2013

 

Truthfully, I was not sure what to expect. I received an email from a friend asking if I wanted to go Austin for a PP lobby day. There was a bus of people making the 200 mile trip from Dallas to Austin to lobby at the Capital and then head back home later that evening. If I was going down to Austin, I was sure as hell going to spend the evening and enjoy some of my favorite places (and Mexican martinis) with some of my favorite ladies. Hotel booked, gas in car…lets GO!

The dress code said “business professional” and encouraged us to wear pink. Yes, pink business professional. Hmm…I suppose that my pink pantsuit must be at the dry cleaners, because I cannot find ANYTHING to wear. Then, in a last ditch effort to find an appropriate outfit, I spy some dressy pink capri pants that have been in my closet for years. I am fairly certain that these have never actually been worn. BINGO! Pink pants, white button up and a blue pinstriped blazer. Done.

We leave the house at (the ungodly hour of) 5am. I gather a thermos of coffee, my liberal ladies and we head off to the Capital! We get in around 9:30am, missing most of the informational meeting- so we are completely unprepared for what the Lobby Day will entail. Reading through the packet of info we received at registration, we realize that there are 6 in our Lobby group, and we are 4 of the members. Holy crap. That’s a small group. That’s damn near one on one. Ok- so I am out of my comfort zone, feeling like I should have crammed the night before, and I am wearing pink fucking pants.

 

It’s 10:15am and its time for the rally on the south steps of the Capital. There are hundreds of people, many wearing pink, gathered around the steps. Some people are holding signs and another group is dancing. We are up on the steps looking for our Group Leader when a smartly dressed woman grabs our group and asks us to stand directly behind the speaker’s podium. Like right behind, front and center- facing out to the crowd. Holy moly. We are on stage. The photographers, camera guys, the crowd; everyone will be looking at us- and I am pink fucking pants!

 

There was some lady from some CSI/SVU/Law and Order/crime show that I have never watched that gave the key note speech. Then, Texas Senator Wendy Davis gave a speech along with several Texas Representatives and such. So we stand for what feels like hours, holding these professional blue signs that Planned Parenthood has given us to hold. It was really encouraging to listen to these politicians fighting for our cause and urging us to go in and let our voices be heard. They reminded us that the politicians are OUR representatives, and that even if we didn’t vote for them, they still are mandated to represent us and our interests. I guess we forget that. These elected officials work for US. (Well, at least in the most pure and utopian sense of the job description)

Noon- After the rally portion of the morning we have lunch on the South Lawn. My brother comes and meets us on his lunch break to say hello and show his support for the ladies. We hurry back inside the Capital to get our pictures taken at the PP photo booth set-up. Francie and Azure went first and had “For our mothers and our Daughters” written on their sign…please note the photo below. It was the ONLY picture posted on the Facebook page for PP of Greater North Texas. That. Is. Awesome. We also took a group shot of the four of us- Viva la Vulva! (ok, so we stole the saying off a poster at the rally earlier that morning)

 

1:30pm- Time for our first scheduled Lobby meeting with (holy cow) Texas Senator Wendy Davis! What?? A personal sit down with her and her chief of staff…um, ok. There are 7 of us now. The four of us, our assigned group leader, a staff member of PP AND a staff reporter from the Dallas Morning News. What?? Ok, this is getting weird. First we are behind the podium, now we are being followed by a DMN reporter and have an appointment with Senator Davis. And, I am still wearing these fucking pink pants!! The 10 minute meeting went “well” I guess. Senator Davis is already a PP ally so she was sympathetic and gave us some information to take with us when speaking with the less compassionate representatives we have meetings with later. One politician down, two more to go.

2:00pm- We are outside the office for Representative Myra Crownover, the rep from Denton- a republican. Our team leader walks into the offices, announces we are with PP and would like to talk with Rep. Crownover. An aid (it must have been her very first day) tells us that Rep. Crownover was called away and that she could meet with us. The 6 of us are ushered into Crownover’s office.  We introduce ourselves and the woman with the DMN announces her credentials. The aid freezes, excuses herself, gets up and says she will be back in a minute. The chief of staff comes into the room a minute later and introduces himself- he apparently cut his meeting short so that he could be with us. Hmm…the Dallas Morning News helped us with our cause- nice. That’s right, we got cred, yo. He also tells us that anything he says will be off the record. Ugh. Whatever, anyways. The team leader gives her stock spiel and whatnot…it is all very formal and by the book. There is this odd protocol that is followed, very call and response. He then responds with a dumb question, but seeing as how this is off the record, I won’t bore you with his complete lack of misinformation.

Earlier that morning, my friend had recognized Rep. Crownover’s name as a past Preschool mom. Crownover's kids went to school with her husband. (Denton is a tiny tiny town, or at least is seems that way) Until this point I haven’t said anything in any of the meetings. I am beyond annoyed with the formal protocol. I finally speak up and tell the guy that the four of us represent Mrs. Myra Crownover 25 years ago. I told him that our children are currently inrolled in the same preschool her kids went to years ago. I tell him that we are Crownover’s neighbors and her potential voters. The guy sits up, stiffens and says, you are all from Denton?? Yes. We are actual constituents with names and faces and the ability to VOTE. He asks if we had a scheduled appointment with Rep. Crownover and seems flustered that she wasn’t there to talk to us personally. The mood changes, he is attentive, friendly and genuine. It was like the world shifted and we finally had his attention. I let him know that while I did not vote for Rep. Crownover, we were very interested to know her intentions for the defunding of PP in OUR county, OUR town and OUR neighborhood. I got a thumbs up from the PP staff member who looked very pleased. Wahoo!

3pm- We have our last Representative meeting- he isn’t there, we talk with an aide. She doesn’t seem to care, we leave. Mission accomplished…where are the margaritas?? I have a killer headache and am ready to have some fun with my ladies in Austin!

Long story short: Mexican martinis, hotel check-in, ride a Jack-a-lope, walk to G’Raj Mahal, drinks, bed. We had a fabulous evening!!

 

This whole experience makes me wonder how ANYTHING ever gets accomplished. It all protocol and formalities and back-and-forth; it’s insane. I am glad we did our civic duty. I am glad we stood up for our rights. I am so very proud of my friends for being so smart and thoughtful and caring. The four of us are moms, wives, friends and women and I think this experience was so vital for all parts of our psyche. I am proud of us for breaking out of our comfort zone and embracing new adventures- and all while wearing those fucking pink pants.

Here are my pink pants. Front and center with my ladies!

xoxo