GOP lawmaker labeled a ‘hairdresser’ for wearing skintight pink outfit with tutu to raise money for cancer research says: ‘I’d wear that outfit again in a heartbeat’

A Mississippi state senator is being labeled a “hairdresser” after a resurfaced photo showed him wearing a pink jumpsuit for a 2020 cancer fundraiser.

Senator Jeremy England, a married man with two children, has since responded to the criticism, revealing that the costume is deliberately “embarrassing” intended not only for Halloween, but also to raise money for breast cancer research.

As part of the appropriately named Real Men Wear Pink breast cancer awareness program, the event, England said, was held to help raise money “for a worthy cause,” not to catch the boys, as some claimed.

Criticized for wearing a matching pink tutu and leotard in the circulating snaps, the Republican added that he took part in the show to appease his grandmother, who is a breast cancer survivor.

The explanation came after a spate of conservatives flocked to social media to falsely accuse the 40-year-old of promoting pedophilia, amid an increasingly divisive Republican primary in which England is backing the incumbent.

A married man with two children, the Republican lawmaker has since pushed back on those criticisms, which came from his fellow Republicans during a particularly divisive Republican election, and suggested he was promoting pedophilia in the all-pink costume.

It began on Tuesday when a person backing one of the current lieutenant governor’s opponents posted the since-deleted image of England clad in a tutu, along with the caption noted above. The latest casualty of the term ‘barber’ has become a smear claiming that anyone who ignores gender norms around children is encouraging pedophilia. England this week rejected those claims.

Speaking to the press and on social media, she rejected the “hairdresser’s” claims, saying she would “put that costume back on in a heartbeat to raise money for breast cancer awareness.”

He also claimed that the backlash only began after an advert aired on local television Tuesday expressing support for the re-election of Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann.

Shortly after it went on the air, he received a text from Sen. Melanie Sojourner, who is supporting Sen. Chris McDaniel, both Republicans, in the August lieutenant gubernatorial primary.

Soon after, a person backing one of Hosemann’s opponents posted the since-deleted image of the tutu-clad England on Twitter, along with the caption: “Hosemann and his freaky hairdressers.”

A buzzword that has been thrown around by a host of left-leaning figures in recent months, the term has become a smear claiming that anyone who ignores gender norms, especially around boys, is encouraging pedophilia.

That said, people in positions of power are also common victims of the descriptor, with England, seen wearing the skintight pink jumpsuit in the resurfaced shots, being the latest to come under fire.

On Wednesday, following the post’s surge in popularity, England took to Facebook to explain where the nearly three-year-old image came from and why she believed it was now resurfacing.

“The photo is of me in my pink suit,” wrote the legislator, who was elected to represent the state’s 51st District in 2020.

“This photo has been shared on Twitter by another McDaniel supporter who calls me a ‘Groomer’.”

“So now I find myself being attacked personally.”

He continued: ‘But as I said before, this is the modus operandi of the McDaniel camp.

‘Well, I hope they packed a lunch and invited everyone, because I hold my own.’

In a later interview with The Associated Press, he added: “I think that’s one of the worst, dirty forms of politics, which is, of course, where we are now in this race.”

The next elections will begin in just over two weeks.

England posted about the episode on Facebook and revived her fundraising effort for the American Cancer Society. By Saturday she had raised about $5,600.

Hosemann faces two challengers in the Aug. 8 primary. State Senator Chris McDaniel has run unsuccessfully in two US Senate races in the past decade, including a bitter race against long-time starter Thad Cochran in 2014.

Tiffany Longino is an educator spending little on her first run for public office. If no one wins a majority, the race moves to a runoff on August 29.

In a new TV ad from Hosemann, England says it supported McDaniel in 2014 for the Senate, but now views it as a mistake and backs Hosemann for a second term as lieutenant governor.

England said that shortly after the ad began airing, he received a text from state senator Melanie Sojourner, who publicly supports McDaniel. England said the message had no words, just a photo of England in the tutu.

“It was obvious that he was sending that to me as a threat,” England said.

England responded to Sojourner with a ‘HaHa’ in the picture, writing that she had worn the costume in her neighborhood to raise money for breast cancer research as part of the American Cancer Society’s ‘Real Men Wear Pink’ effort.

The next day, another McDaniel supporter posted a similar photo from England on Twitter with the reference to ‘weird hairdressers’. The tweet has since been deleted, but England saved a screenshot.

England posted about the episode on Facebook and revived her fundraising effort for the American Cancer Society. By Saturday she had raised about $5,600.

In response to questions from the AP, Sojourner said the tone of the text message exchange between her and England “has no intent to threaten and/or intimidate Senator England.” She said that he laughed and liked her messages.

“As the jokester of the Senate chamber, Senator England’s new decorum is both ironic and bizarre,” Sojourner said. ‘Sen. England are yelling foul simply to score political points for his chief facilitator, Delbert Hosemann.

Sojourner said she doesn’t know if the person who called England a “barber” is associated with McDaniel’s campaign.

McDaniel said in a statement to the AP: “To be clear: I do not condone any virulence directed at Senator England, nor any of the toxicities that our modern political environment generates. Volunteers are what is won and lost in campaigns, but it is impossible for any one campaign or candidate to police all volunteers on social media.’

During the 2014 US Senate campaign, some McDaniel supporters entered a nursing home without permission and photographed Cochran’s wife, who had dementia. Pictures of her briefly surfaced online.

McDaniel said he had nothing to do with the incident. McDaniel refused to acknowledge his loss in the runoff of the Republican primary after Cochran’s campaign courted black voters who usually vote in Democratic primaries.

Republican-led Mississippi is choosing state officials this year, including a governor and lieutenant governor. Although in some states the candidates for the two offices run as a ticket, the governor and lieutenant governor are elected separately in Mississippi.

The office of lieutenant governor is one of the most powerful positions in the Mississippi government. The person chairs the 52-member state Senate, appoints the leaders of Senate committees and has a lot of leeway to decide what legislation lives or dies.

In the November 7 general election, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor will face Democrat D. Ryan Grover, who reports that he has so far spent no money on his campaign.