Parents of the year turn homophobic graffiti into show of love for their daughters

Sometimes, a little paint and a lot of pride are the perfect way to respond to hate. When Miranda DeLong came home to discover that someone had spray-painted “I’m Gay” over the front of her family’s garage, the DeLongs managed to counteract the vandalism with something empowering and beautiful.

Miranda, 17, and her 14-year-old sister Emily are openly bisexual, which their parents both know and support. The DeLongs, shocked at the defacement, filed a police report. But after the graffiti had been cleaned from the family’s garage and truck, they wondered how to go about repainting. After a friend suggested using glitter, the family decided to paint a rainbow—so they painted the panels of the garage in bright rainbow colors, effectively emblazoning the symbol of LGBT pride over a space someone had tried to make a stamp of shame.

“We were really positive about it. It doesn’t change who they are as people. They’re good kids,” Erin Kennedy DeLong, the girls’ mother, told The Press of Atlantic City. “We have three healthy, happy, well-adjusted kids. Why have kids if you’re not going to love them for who they are?”

The story went viral after she posted her family’s story on the Facebook page of STOP-Homophobia.com, a gay-rights blog. Social media provided an outpouring of support, and the initial post now has over 5,200 likes. Soon, everyone from British tabloids to Brazilian news sites began to pick up the story.

But for Erin DeLong, the decision seems to have been almost elementary. “I’m their mom, I’m supposed to be their biggest supporter,” she told Yahoo. And when asked about the statement of the large, bright panels and what they proudly proclaim from her driveway, she added, “my thinking is, go big or go home.”

(Image via Facebook)