This Toronto cop is taking a colorful stand against homophobia and bullying.
Luke Watson dyed his hair hot pink to fight LGBT discrimination, and he’s letting Twitter users choose how long he keeps the new ‘do.
Watson promised that for every 1,000 retweets of a picture of his new style, he’ll keep the hair color for another week.
Every 100 retweets means another day of pink locks.
The initial picture to #StopBullyingNow went viral, amassing 1,000 retweets within two hours Wednesday.
Watson dyed his hair for the International Day of Pink, a day of events to “raise awareness to stop homophobia, transphobia, transmisogyny and all forms of bullying,” according to its website.
It was started by two heterosexual teens in Nova Scotia who wanted to stand in solidarity with a gay student who was bullied while wearing a pink shirt.
The day’s message: Together we can stop bullying.
High schools around Canada host events and change their school colors to pink in solidarity every year.
Toronto Police have been attending Day of Pink events for years, spokesman Kevin Masterman told the Daily News.
“We’re supportive of the event” and of Watson’s hair color, Masterman said.
Watson attended the Day of Pink rally at Forest Hills Collegiate Institute in Toronto Wednesday, alongside other cops in pink t-shirts under their uniforms, according to Twitter posts. Some officers shared their own experiences of bullying and others told students shared tips to fight the abuse.
Meanwhile, fellow officer Ryan Willmer, who posted Watson’s pictures, rocked a pink-painted police cruiser and a pink badge and ate pink donuts, pictures show.
Masterman said he was not aware of a police regulation against having pink hair.
Watson and Willmer were not immediately available for comment.
