The parents of an openly gay Michigan teen say their home was targeted by bullies, who allegedly spray painted a homophobic slur outside of their son's bedroom.
Melanie Peabody of Vienna Township, Mich. told NBC25 that she and her husband have tried their best to remove the graffiti, which appeared outside 16-year-old Levi Peabody's bedroom, but the traces are still visible. Local authorities say they are working with local school officials in an attempt to identify suspects through handwriting samples.
“I’m mad. My son's not safe,” Melanie, who believes that at least one of her son's classmates is the culprit, told the news station. “I want the kid that did this to get caught ... it’s disgusting."
Added Levi: “As much as I don’t want to admit it, it does hurt that someone would dislike me that much to do something to my window.”
Last year, 18-year-old Jesse Jeffers came home to discover his Pace, Fla., home had been vandalized Feb. 3, according to the Pensacola News Journal.
In that case, at least one person spray-painted messages of hate and derogatory pictures, including a crude depiction of a woman's breasts, on the inside and outside of the trailer. A swastika was emblazoned on the ceiling, according to reports.
Meanwhile, in February, a Minnesota 8th grader came forward with claims that his family's driveway was vandalized with "God hates fags" in large letters about a week after he came out on social media last fall.
"It hurt -- just like calling someone fat or ugly," Noah Ratgen, who attends junior high school in the Centennial school district in Circle Pines, Minn., said at the time.
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