A man has told how he endured horrendous DEATH THREATS after deciding to paint his house rainbow colours - and the incredible community response he received after.
Hairdresser Mykey O'Halloran, from Melbourne, Australia, bought his dream beachside home last year - but was devastated when he didn't receive a welcome response from a neighbour.
Mykey frequently shares videos of his hairstyles with his 600k TikTok followers and 153k Instagram followers.
He specialises in rainbow-hued designs alongside styling hair to resemble tacos, cheeseburgers and fries - so naturally, he had to give his beige three-bedroom home a similar technicolour makeover.
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But, this was when the trouble started, as he learnt a few neighbours weren't happy with his plans
Mykey told The Sun Online : "About a month after I moved in, five men turned up in my back garden at around 10 o'clock at night.
"They had heard that I was going to paint my house in rainbow colours and they didn't like it. They threatened to kill me and tried to beat me up."
"They got really aggressive and violent and homophobic," he went on. "They called me a 'gay c***' and said 'if you paint that house, see what happens because next time it won't be so nice'."
His neighbour told him: "If you f***ing paint that house rainbow I will come back and kill you."
Following the sickening threats, Mykey called the police - and the man charged with unlawful assault and threats to kill.
In July 2021, he pled guilty to the lesser charge of unlawful assault and was handed a fine of just $2,500 Australian dollars (£1,418).
But Mykey was left overwhelmed by the 'incredible' community response after sharing details of the incident on social media.
“I cried myself to sleep last night after feeling so invaded, homophobically attacked and threatened in my very own home,” he wrote.
He added that he was not going to allow anyone to bully him out of his new home and he would continue with his plan to paint the house with rainbow stripes.
Hundreds of people who read his post agreed, and they volunteered to help him paint it - while Dulux donated 40 litres of paint.
“For every ratbag like him, the island has a thousand others who welcome you,” one neighbour wrote.
“You paint your house whatever colours you want to! I’m so sorry this happened to you!” commented a woman from the US.
More than a hundred people gathered to paint the exterior in stripes of blue, green, yellow, orange, purple and pink. Another kindhearted volunteer installed eight cameras in case he faced further threats.
Speaking about the incident, Mykey added: “I know in my heart that I’m a good person, and I deserve inclusion and acceptance for how I wish to live my life.
"My message now is don’t let anyone else dull your sparkle, and always stay true to yourself.”
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