A Baltimore woman who raised $43,000 after claiming a neighbor sent her an anonymous letter in June demanding she tone down her “relentlessly gay” yard says she will be returning the donations, citing “taxes and an overabundance of resources.”
“If a time machine were available, it would have all ended at the original requested amount,” wrote Julie Baker on the GoFundMe campaign page. “It was never about the money but being happy in the face of intolerance.”
The letter Baker allegedly received stated:
Dear Resident of 4900 Kenwood Avenue,
Your yard is becoming Relentlessly Gay! Myself and Others in the neighborhood ask that you Tone It Down. This is a Christian area and there are Children. Keep it up and I will be Forced to call the Police on You! Your kind need to have Respect for God.
A Concerned Home Owner.
In response to the letter, Baker started up a GoFundMe page pledging to make her yard even more rainbow-filled. “Put simply, I am a widow and the mother of four children, my youngest in high school and I WILL NOT Relent to Hatred,” she wrote.
Baker was later criticized by some who questioned whether she wrote the letter herself, with many pointing out the unusual capitalization that was peppered throughout both the anti-gay letter and Baker's response.
