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A Mighty Girl

When Erin Kennedy DeLong of New Jersey woke up to discover that her garage door had been vandalized with homophobic graffiti targeted at her daughters, she decided not just to paint it over but to send a message to 17-year-old Miranda and 14-year-old Emily that "they have nothing to be ashamed of." Together with her daughters, DeLong cleaned off the graffiti and repainted it with “the largest rainbow flag image for miles around." In a perfect message for June's Pride Month, DeLong asserted that by doing so she aimed to "proudly and loudly say we're an LGBT household, and we're OK with that."DeLong’s daughters both identify as bisexual, and it was Miranda who discovered the graffiti. She woke her mother, saying “You have to come downstairs. Someone spray-painted on the house and on our truck.” After they repainted the garage door with a rainbow flag, DeLong wrote on Facebook that "we decided that some announcements deserve more than gray spray paint." The photo and story quickly went viral, and while DeLong said the family has received plenty of praise for their bold response, they have also experienced some negative backlash and a few neighborhood kids have yelled anti-gay insults at them. In response, she said, “we just try to let it roll off our backs. What they do says more about their character than ours.”In reflecting on the experience, DeLong observed, “It's great to have people tell us we are being great parents, but it would be even better if what we did was considered just normal parenting, and not amazing.” As for parents who face similar acts of bullying and hate directed at their kids, her advice is simple: “Love your kids. Show people that what they say is more of a reflection on them than it is on you. If you support your kids and you love your kids, how you feel about them overshadows how other people do.”For books for children, teens, and their parents that promote acceptance and understanding of LGBTQ people, check out our blog post "True Colors: Mighty Girl Books for Pride Month" at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=12258For Mighty Girl books about taking a stand against prejudice of all kinds, “Standing Together: 50 Mighty Girl Books Celebrating Diversity and Acceptance” at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=13481Among the featured resources is an excellent collection of essays to give hope to LGBTQ youth who might be living with bullying and intolerance that life will get better: "It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living" for ages 13 and up at http://www.amightygirl.com/it-gets-betterAnd, for books for parents and educators on bullying and how best to respond to it, check out our blog post "Leading the Way: Bullying Prevention Books for Parents and Educators," at http://www.amightygirl.com/blog?p=10259