A New York activist supporting Virginia’s ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment exposed her breast to lawmakers outside the Capitol on Monday while she and another activist mimicked the great seal of the commonwealth in a performance art bit.
Capitol Police arrested her and charged her with indecent exposure after giving her a warning.
The protester, Michelle Renay Sutherland, 45, intended to be arrested when she and Natalie White, both of New York City, recreated the state seal. According to Virginia code, the seal shows the Roman goddess Virtus, who represents the genius of the commonwealth, holding a spear and sword and resting her left foot on the form of Tyranny, represented by the prostrate body of a man.
Sutherland, who goes by the name “Sister Leona,” is with a group called Radical Matriarchy, and White, who was arrested last week outside the office of House Speaker Kirk Cox, R-Colonial Heights, is with a group called Equal Means Equal. Capitol Police said the address listed on Sutherland’s charge of indecent exposure is in Florida.
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The Virginia Senate in January voted 26-14 to pass a resolution for Virginia to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment, but it died in a state House subcommittee on a 4-2 vote.
The proposed federal amendment says: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex.” It provides that Congress shall have the power to enforce its provisions “by appropriate legislation.”
ERA supporters said that if Virginia votes to ratify the amendment, it would be enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, but opponents have argued that the deadline has long expired.
Del. Haya Ayala, D-Prince William, last week filed a resolution asking for a change in House rules so the full body could vote on the ERA. House Majority Leader Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, has filed a counter-resolution to stop a floor vote.
As the two activists recreated the seal, Frances Broaddus-Crutchfield of Powhatan County read a script into a microphone aimed at Cox and Gilbert.
“The only agenda getting through the House of Delegates matches the so-called Family Foundation’s policy positions,” she said, referencing the conservative Virginia group opposed to the Equal Rights Amendment.
Some delegates walked from the Capitol annex to their offices in the Pocahontas Building without realizing what was happening; a few appeared uncomfortable when they saw a public display of nudity.
Afterward, Del. Chris Peace, R-Hanover, recalled how then-Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli gave his staff lapel pins with Virtus’ breast covered, and how U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft ordered the covering of partially nude statues in the Department of Justice in 2002.
Chatting with Broaddus-Crutchfield after the arrest, Peace said he wasn’t offended by the state seal.