According to the New York Times, Yates had written a letter to lawyers in the Justice Department on Monday advising them not to defend Trump’s executive order. “At present, I am not convinced that the defense of the executive order is consistent with these responsibilities, nor am I convinced that the executive order is lawful,” she wrote.
Seeing a woman stand up to Trump so fearlessly ― despite the fact that she would certainly be fired for doing so ― struck a major chord for many of the women watching.
By late Monday night and into Tuesday morning, the hashtags #ThankYouSally, #ThankYouSallyYates and #SallyYates were trending on Twitter, with women acknowledging the audacity it took for Yates to take such a powerful stance, and lose her job in the process.
Yates’ heroic move serves as an important reminder to feminists everywhere: human rights are women’s rights, and women’s rights are human rights.
Check out some of the best tweets below.
People say, “If I’d been in Germany in WWII, I would’ve refused to obey orders.” We just saw someone who meant it. #ThankYouSallyYates
— Amy Jo Cousins (@_AJCousins) January 31, 2017
Sally Yates stuck her neck out to speak up for what she believed was right. Talk about a badass woman. #ThankYouSally
— Maggie (@MaggieRolicheck) January 31, 2017
#ThankYouSally from a Muslim mom. My children’s civil rights depend upon the courage of civil servants as exhibited by Sally Yates today
— Khadija Gurnah (@kgurnah) January 31, 2017
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