News

Actions

Ogden couple says vandals painted homophobic slurs on their car

Posted at 5:47 PM, Nov 11, 2016
and last updated 2016-11-11 23:37:19-05

OGDEN, Utah -- In red spray paint, vandals wrote hateful words on the car of Ogden couple Aaron and Nik McFarland.

"One that said 'die homo' and the other one, 'faggot,'" Aaron McFarland said of the graffiti.

The vandalism left the McFarlands in disbelief.

"I seriously laid in bed for a couple of hours because I was just shocked," McFarland said.

It left Nik's mother, Jean Kaye, in tears.

"It broke my heart because my son was born gay, but he was also born intelligent,and smart, and loving, and kind, and good. His sexuality does not take away from any of that," she said.

They're not sure who did it or why, but they have a feeling it may be related to the election.

"It's been a divisive time for the country, and I don’t care if you voted for Hillary or Trump or Stein or wanted Bernie Sanders, I just think we're all human beings," McFarland said.

Senator Jim Dabakis called the couple to show his support, hoping this isn't a preview of more hatred on the horizon.

"We need to send the message united, wherever we stand politically, that Utahns don’t stand for hate and we don’t stand for persecution," Dabakis said.

No matter the motivation for this particular crime, the McFarlands want to see Utahns and all Americans come together.

"We have to try to get through this," McFarland said. "I don’t want to see this state or this country fall back in the years of progress we’ve made."

They're hoping people will use this divisive time as an opportunity to support each other and celebrate our differences.

"Hatred is not okay," Kaye said. "We were meant to love each other."

The McFarlands did file a police report.

They also tried to wash the hateful messages off their car and accidentally took off some of the original paint in the process. A GoFundMepage was started to raise funds to repair the car, but the account was removed after organizers stated a local auto shop extended a "generous offer of help." The organizer said refunds will be issued to all who donated prior to that offer being made.

The McFarlands encouraged anyone who still felt like contributing to instead donate to Equality Utahor the Utah Pride Center.