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Transgender girl fighting to build blue, pink and white house next to Westboro Baptist Church.

 

When eight-year-old Avery, a transgender girl, visited a house painted in blue, pink and white stripes, she realised there were people that would support and accept her.

“I loved the Rainbow House [Equality House] when it was painted like the transgender flag. I felt so happy and proud to be transgender,” she said.

From that day, Avery decided it was okay not to hide, it was okay to show her face in pictures because she felt accepted and safe.

Equality House is normally painted in rainbow stripes but for one week of the year it is painted in trans colours.

But Avery thinks seven days is not enough.

She wants to establish a permanent tri-colour safe haven next door to the existing Equality House and a Westboro Baptist Church — a group known for its hateful campaigns against the LGBTI community.

In 2012, Planting Peace, a non-profit humanitarian organisation established to “spread peace in a hurting world”, purchased the original house, right across the road from Westboro’s base in Topeka, Kansas.

They painted it in the colours of the gay pride flag.

Planting Peace has joined forces with Avery to expand the “presence of peace and acceptance for all people, directly across from the Westboro Baptist Church,” their campaign page said.

Unsurprisingly, Westboro has retaliated with hate.

“The Sodomite Rainbow House (@Planting_Peace) can buy every house on the block but God STILL hates fa**,” @WBCVideo posted on Twitter.

Planting Peace responded by asking the church to support the cause.

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“Hey friends!! Care to contribute to the beautification of our neighbourhood?” they tweeted.

Standing with children like Avery

Planting Peace president Aaron Jackson said Avery’s “courage and energy” inspired them to create a house dedicated to the transgender community, and all transgender children.

“With nearly half of transgender children attempting suicide because of bullying, violence, and believing they are ‘less than’, we need to do everything we can to show compassion and let them know there are many, many people in the world who embrace and support them,” he told the ABC.

A report released by La Trobe University in 2014 said one in three gender diverse and transgender young people in Australia did not feel supported by their family and suffered much higher rates of stress, suicide and depression.

“We have the opportunity as a global community to make a positive, compassionate statement in the fight for basic human rights and equality,” Mr Jackson said.

“I’ve heard thousands of stories from children and young adults about what the Equality House has meant to them. It means more to people than I ever imagined.

“We want to … stand with children like Avery and let them know they aren’t alone.”

The campaign has raised 7 per cent of the $US70,000 required to get the house up and running.

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This post originally appeared on ABC News.

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