A Republican state lawmaker accused of being a "groomer" for wearing pink to raise breast cancer awareness is turning the tables on his accuser and wielding the smear to raise more money.
Mississippi State Senator Jeremy England said in a Facebook post on Wednesday that he was "being bullied" and "receiving threats" after being called a "groomer" in a tweet by a fellow Republican who supports a different candidate for Mississippi lieutenant governor than the one backed by England.
The "groomer" smear is often used to falsely claim that people who are LGBTQ+, or those who transgress gender norms, are somehow engaging in or encouraging pedophilia. It has become an increasingly popular form of culture war rhetoric among anti-LGBTQ+ conservatives.
The smear against England was based on photos of the state senator dressed in a pink outfit while he was participating in a 2020 fundraiser for Men Wear Pink, an American Cancer Society initiative intended to raise awareness for breast cancer and fund research to end the illness.
England said the accusation was sparked by his support of Republican Mississippi Lieutenant Governor Delbert Hosemann, who is facing rival GOP candidate and Mississippi State Senator Chris McDaniel in a primary election August 8.
The photos of England were apparently circulating among Republicans shortly before the appearance of a tweet accusing the lawmaker of being a "groomer." The now-deleted tweet was from Hardy Case, a volunteer for McDaniel and a marijuana legalization activist, according to the Mississippi Free Press.
"Hosemann and his groomer weirdos don't have a chance on August 8th," Case tweeted alongside an image of England in the outfit.
When England responded to the tweet to explain the reason that he wore the costume, Case reportedly said that it was still "not acceptable" because "grown men should never dress up like women" and "Mississippians don't care what group it is."
Newsweek reached out for comment to the American Cancer Society via email and Case via the website of his company Beringia Cannabis on Thursday.
England said in his Facebook post that he "would don that costume again in a heartbeat to raise money for breast cancer awareness."
"I have no shame in the pictures being shared, I only wish it was being shared to help raise money for breast cancer awareness as intended."
England decided to use the incident to raise more funds to fight breast cancer, uploading images of himself in the costume to a fundraising page on the American Cancer Society's website.
By Thursday evening, the fundraiser had accumulated almost $2,900, $1,300 more than had been raised when the Free Press article was published only hours earlier.
McDaniel told the news outlet that he was not involved in the effort to smear England, saying that "sometimes volunteers behave in unreasonable ways" while also seemingly condemning England for going "to Facebook to air dirty laundry."
On Friday, when the fundraiser had eclipsed $4,500, England said in a statement to Newsweek, "think the donations rolling in like they are shows that people are tired of dirty politics, and they love turning [it] into something positive."
Update 07/21/23, 4:14 p.m. ET: This article has been updated to include a statement from England and an updated total for the breast cancer fundraiser.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
