♥ Senator Leticia Van de Putte ♥

At the end of Texas Senator Wendy Davis' epic filibuster Tuesday night, after it had been ended by her mendacious Republican colleagues, right before midnight, Senator Leticia Van de Putte took the mic. And then this happened:

Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a middle-aged Latina woman, holds a mic and says: "Mr. President, a parliamentary inquiry." Offscreen, the president of the state senate, a white man, says, "State your inquiry." Van de Putte asks, "At what point must a female senator raise her hand or her voice to be recognized over the male colleagues in the room?" Cheers and applause. The video ends after a few moments, but the cheering and applause continued for ages.

So, she's awesome, basically.

Yesterday, she penned a piece for the Houston Chronicle titled "Why I stood with Wendy: Texas women must be heard." [NB: Not only women need access to a full spectrum of reproductive choice.] You should definitely read the whole thing, because it is very good! I especially loved this:

Unfortunately, some of my Senate colleagues do not believe in trusting women with their reproductive organs. It's amazing to me that they do not trust women with a choice, but they trust them with a child.

BOOM.

If you would like to send her a thank-you for also standing up for women and other people with uteri in Texas and throughout the country, you can send a note to her here.