In response to Wyoming Senator Mike Enzi’s comments earlier this week, many Wyomingites are planning to wear tutus to school, work, while running errands and to the bar Friday.  

While visiting middle and high school students in Greybull, Enzi was asked by a student about federal protections for LGBT people and what he has done to support Wyomingites.

Enzi replied with Wyoming’s live and let live mantra, but also said a man wearing a tutu to a bar shouldn’t be surprised when he gets into a fight because he’s asking for it.

In response, some Wyomingites are planning to wear tutus to school, work or their local bar and post a photo to social media with the hashtag #LiveAndLetTutu. Patrick Harrington came up with the idea. He grew up in Greybull, but now lives in Laramie. Harrington said folks all across the state will be able to participate.

"Our hope with the state-wide [efforts] is that even in small communities we’ll get a handful of people to share a photo of themselves in the bar wearing a tutu, so we can show Senator Enzi that he really is representing a large group of people and a really diverse group of people in Wyoming,” said Harrington.

Mike Vanata, another Laramie resident, has helped Harrington with the organizing and said he planned a pub crawl with some bars and restaurants offering discounts to those that show up in a tutu. Vanata said Enzi’s comments do not reflect Wyoming values.

“I’m really upset that Wyoming kind of lives in this dark shadow of a myth that we’re just a completely gay-hating state or something,” said Vanata. “And I think from this action, we’re correcting that.”

Senator Enzi has since written a statement apologizing to anyone who has taken offense and said he “regrets a poor choice of words.”