A gay man in Australia has been overwhelmed by the amount of support he received to help paint his house in rainbow colors. The local community stepped up after a small number of neigbors objected to the plan and threatened him with violence.
Mykey O’Halloran, 29 is a hair artist who specializes in coloring hair, often in bright colors and rainbows designs. He runs a business called Unicorn Manes by Mykey.
In February, he moved from Melbourne to a new bungalow home on nearby Phillip Island (population: 7,000). He was overjoyed to buy his new home.
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With his brightly colored hair, we imagine he quickly became known in the neighborhood.
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When news emerged that O’Halloran wanted to paint rainbows all over his new property, not everyone was happy. In fact, last month, a small number of men confronted him about the idea. At first, they argued it would devalue local homes, but it soon became more personal.
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“I had five men aggressively banging the front door,” he said in a Facebook post in mid-March. “One threatened to kill me if I paint my house rainbow and calling me homophobic things.
“[One] guy introduced himself as the homeowner from across the road. [He] told me his reason for being at my house was to tell me not to paint my house rainbow.”
He alleges the man said, “See what happens if you do.”
O’Halloran, who had moved to the island for some peace and quiet, says he was deeply shaken by the incident, which he reported to the police.
Cops later arrested a 23-year-old man, who was charged with making threats to kill and unlawful assault. O’Halloran told local press at the time that he refused to be intimidated and was going to proceed with his plan to paint his house as he liked.
After local press reported on the intimidation, not only did paint company Dulux provide O’Halloran with 42 litres of paint in every color of the rainbow, but he began receiving offers of help to paint his home.
He planned for the painting to take place last Sunday. He was bowled over when over 100 people showed up to help, making quick work of the task.
“It was amazing. People came by, left, then came back. Some people just came up to show their support and give me a hug. We had a whole team of kids involved, there was a BBQ,” he said.
“It was a whole day of community coming together as one.”
“I’m so overwhelmed with joy of how much support and love there is in this community,” he told Project TV,
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Related: Woman Stands Up To Homophobic Neighbor… With 10,000 Rainbow Christmas Lights
In a lengthy Facebook post, O’Halloran said that day had been amazing.
“After a hurricane, comes a rainbow 🌈 so much community support and love from everyone that stopped by to say hello today or picked up a paintbrush and helped make my rainbow house a reality.
“I appreciate every positive message I’ve received in the past month or the words of encouragement to be myself, words of love and appreciation of standing up and not allowing bad behaviour in this day in age, and today we are taking a stand against bullying & homophobia and that goes for all LGBTIQA+ phobia.
“My house being painted rainbow was never to represent my sexuality.. just an assumption that it was so. I’m a gay man and I’m open and I’m proud to be, I express colourfully naturally as my job is a rainbow hair artist and I’m creative, but what happened today was people standing by my decision to have a rainbow house regardless of opposing opinions or the minority of homophobic opinions. The message we must take out of this situation and learn from this is to stand your ground, don’t let bullies tell you how you should be living your life.”
He continued, “Imagine how beige my house would be if I let other people influence my life decisions. Imagine how natural my hair would be if I allowed opinions to turn into my life experience. Not in this lifetime!”
Following the success of the weekend, O’Halloran has launched a GoFundMe to help launch the first Pride festival on Phillip Island next year.
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trell
It’s still crap that homophobia is still very prevalent, but what an awesome show of support in the general community!
And the house looks awesome!
Hdtex
Good for him!
Vince
It’s amazing seeing men get to the point of violence over that. That home is like a beacon for repressed homophobia within.
Cam
Any doubt that the guy who threatened him is some self hating closet case?
Crayonap
Yeah, a lot of doubt. This idea that closeted gay men are the perpetuators of violence against our community is one of the remarks we need to all stop making. Can gay men be self-hating? Of course, but it isn’t the source of homophobia any more than the position of black people in American culture is the result of black-on-black crime.
Heywood Jablowme
It wasn’t just ONE guy: “I had five men aggressively banging the front door,”
Cam
@Crayonap
Actually studies have shown that the more homophobia in many people increased if they were closeted.
And pointing that out is a great way to get the bigots to stop the behavior. If every time they opened their mouths about Queer people their friends said “You seem kinda obsessed, sure there’s something you aren’t telling us?” They’d knock it off.
Fahd
Those who don’t like his choices in colour for his house should have purchased homes within a home owners association (HOA) where there are rules about this sort of thing. Violence is never the answer.
Some guys painted their house this house where I lived and it was the rainbow house for a few years. When they were able to sell, the new owners went for off-white. Just another house now, although the landscaping is better.
He says he moved to the island for some peace and quiet, but he’s doing the “only-gay-in-the-village” thing at high volume.
We each have ot find our own way.
Invader7
Wow. Some ” so -called men ” are undone by his choice of colors? Those males NEED long term PSYCHOTHERAPY stat !!! We all KNOW they’re probably @ home watching GAY porn all the time. But they’re NOT gay. Oh no… they’re mentally unbalanced douche nozzles !!!
Thad
Freshly painted houses usually raise neighborhood property values.
hansniemeijer
Tappy to see rainbows, there is something funny with the colours Officially it is RED ORANGE YELLOW GREEN BLUE and PURPLE. These six colours have a specific meaning