US state residents wear tutus to protest discriminatory remarks

Residents in the US state of Wyoming continued a campaign by wearing colourful tutus to protest a Republican Senator's anti-homosexual remarks.

The protests continued through the weekend following an incident on April 25 when Senator Mike Enzi visited a high school in Wyoming. He was asked what he and other Washington officials would do for the homosexuals in the state nicknamed "the Equality State", Xinhua news agency reported.

"If a man wears a tutu (a dress worn as a costume in a ballet performance) in a bar and ends up getting bullied, then it's partly the man's fault because he 'kind of asks for it'," Enzi said, suggesting that the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) community would face discrimination only if they were too open about it.

The remarks sparked an immediate backlash and Enzi apologised later that day for what he called "a poor choice of words".

However, the apology came too late to stop a protest started by local residents as well as institutes, media outlets and NGOs such as the University of Wyoming, LGBTQ Nation and Wyoming Equality.

Since April 28, thousands of photos showing local men wearing tutus to restaurants, parks, and bars had been posted and shared on social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

A Twitter user posted a picture and said: "Hey @SenatorEnzi three friends walked into a bar wearing tutus and they weren't 'asking for it'."

Another user, who shared a picture in which he and two young men stood on a snowy ground dressed in white tutus, criticised Enzi for his "blatant disregard for minorities and loudly expressed privilege and ignorance".

--IANS

ksk/bg