Lesbians Harassed by Antigay Neighbors Paint House Rainbow

Married lesbians in Pennsylvania who say they've endured years of homophobic slurs from their neighbors are fighting back by painting their house the colors of the rainbow, Pittsburgh TV station WTAE reports.

The women, Lisa Licata and Sherry Lau, who moved to their Penn Hills neighborhood five years ago, said that their neighbors Ron Makay and his wife, Iolanda Wieczorkowski, have repeatedly shouted "homos, dykes, and lesbians" at them. They allege that Makay shot their dog with a BB gun, which he has denied.

The women said they heard their neighbors use a homophobic slur shortly after they moved to the neighborhood, and so they pretended to be mother and daughter to avoid becoming a target. But once the neighbors found out they were actually a married couple, there has been a litany of slurs from Makay and Wieczorkowski, according to Licata and Lau.

To put some distance between themselves and the antigay neighbors, Licata and Lau erected a fence that they painted the colors of the rainbow flag. The fence allegedly set the neighbors off so much that they amped up the harassment. That's when the women decided to paint the side of their house that faces the neighbors in rainbow colors.

"When he protested against the fence being rainbow, that's when we decided, let's do the house," Licata told WTAE.

Now the women intend to paint the entire house in the colors of the rainbow.

"This is the 21st century," Lau said. "We live here. We're not moving. My family accepts us. Our friends accept us. If you don't like it, just live your life, leave us alone and everything's cool."

Per instructions from his attorney, Makay told WTAE that he had no comment.