RJ Wolcott

Lansing State Journal

OKEMOS - Pam Philo and her roommates woke up Friday morning and found the word "fags" written in sharpie marker on the door of their Okemos apartment.

A neighbor discovered the vandalism upon returning from the gym around 9 a.m., Philo said, and the neighbor reported it to staff at Hamilton Trace Apartments. By the time Philo and her roommates saw the word, maintenance staff had been out and applied primer in an attempt to remove it.

"The fact that it happened to me and two people I love dearly is really upsetting and disappointing," Philo said.

Philo identifies as gender fluid and her roommates, Nikki Schartzer and Katie Dietrich, are a married couple. The pair married a little over a year ago after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled same-sex marriage legal.

"It’s really disheartening," Dietrich said. "I'd like to think people are better than this kind of behavior."

Incidents of vandalism have sprung up across the country following the 2016 presidential election. A house in Lansing had a derogatory message toward Donald Trump spraypainted on it, and broken windows and vulgar messages have been spray painted in other cities across the country.

Anti-Trump vandals target Lansing building

Approximately 12% of bias or hate motivated crimes in Michigan last year were on the basis of sexual orientation, according to the 2015 Hate/Bias Crime report from the Michigan State Police.

The roommates reported the incident to Meridian Township police. The apartment complex has no cameras positioned nearby that might have recorded the act, Philo said, and it's unclear to her who wrote the word.

Hamilton Trace staff did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Cpt. Greg Frenger of the Meridan Township Police Department said the department is conducting an investigation.

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.