Monday, December 09, 2013

UPDATE: The Dayna Morales "Story"

It’s hard enough out here for a gay, without gays like Dayna Morales, AKA The Story That Would Not Die. I mean, think about it, as a gay man, I am often accused of wanting to have sex with children, to convert children to my deviant lifestyle; I am often accused of ruining marriage by wanting marriage; I have been accused, by some of the far less intelligent folks, and I’m looking at you Sally Kern, of being worse than a terrorist simply by being an openly gay man.

So, it’s hard out here, and Dayna Morales, and gays like her, make it even harder.

By now you all know the story — see my post HERE and HERE— but here’s a quick refresher: Morales was a server in a restaurant and claims she was stiffed — meaning she did not get tipped — by a guest who left an anti-gay comment on the receipt. And folks all over the world began standing up for Dayna, with some even sending her money in support. Morales, an ex-military person, said she would donate the money to Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit that supports veterans returning from overseas duty.

Trouble is, the folks who left that receipt say they never wrote the note and, in fact, left an $18 tip for Morales. Then came word that Dayna had been suspended form her job pending an investigation that she is a liar. Right on the heels of that accusation came the news that Dayna Morales has yet to give one thin dime to the Wounded Warriors. 

A Wounded Warrior representative checking for donations by the name Dayna Morales, and the ZIP codes for Bridgewater, where the restaurant is located, as well as Bedminster, where Morales said she lives, was unable to find any matching donations. He did say, however, that the donations could have been made from a different ZIP code, or by a third-party. But, the more we learn, the more we find that Dayna Morales is the reasons, just one of the reasons, that life is hard for the gays.

Now, friends and family are speaking out about Dayna Morales and we are learning that there isn’t much truth to anything she says.
Morales, who was reportedly dishonorably discharged for failing to show up for drills, has also said that Hurricane Sandy severely damaged her home, causing her to seek shelter in a boarding house, when he home suffered only minor damage.

Even worse, Morales also claimed to have been deployed in Afghanistan where her entire platoon was killed except her, though, a spokesman for the Marines says she was deployed to Romania and there is no record of her ever being in Afghanistan.

Now, however quietly, some of the money that people sent to Dayna is being refunded. At least three people who sent money to a PayPal account set up in Morales’ name say their donations were refunded. 

Brittney Stilgenbauer was one of hundreds of people across the country who offered support, and a cash donation, after Dayna posted her story to Facebook and it went viral: "I felt awful for her, and I thought it would be great if people could come together and donate a dollar each and make up for her tip that she lost."

Stilgenbauer, in fact, as well as others, on Facebook encouraged Morales to set up a PayPal account to accept donations, and that same day, a PayPal account in Morales' name was set up and publicized on Facebook. Brittney Stilgenbauer donated to the account that first day, but this week she received notification that her donation was being refunded.

Morales did not respond to requests for comment, with her only statement on this whole mess being, "All I know is what I've been saying." 

But what she's been saying seems far different than the truth. It's hurting the LGBT community  the last thing we need is more ammunition against us, for being liars and thieves  and it's hurting veterans, and veteran's organizations, who could have used the money she was collecting.

And all because of what, exactly, Dayna?

14 comments:

  1. Some seemed off about this to me when I first heard about it. There had been a couple of stories on the web only a week or so earlier about a (perceived)gay servers who'd had this experience with customers. The timing seemed awfully convenient but I thought perhaps some teavangelical nutbag group had sent out a newsletter suggesting it. I'm sorry it turned out to be just a scam. Sometimes I wish there really were a gay card so we could revoke it.

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  2. Anonymous10:49 AM

    She was "other than honorably" discharged this year from the Marines for not showing up for duty.

    That + Wounded Warriors fund set up by her = scammer

    She gets no sympathy from me.

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  3. @Harper's Keeper.
    I agree 100%

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  4. Anonymous12:06 PM

    The next thing we'll all be reading about is the evangelical tea bagger who volunteers in a soup kitchen and loves their gay child.

    Unfortunately, we must question all stories but when the news media and politicians can't be bothered to research their stories and and use facts to support their policies and positions then we wind up with more and more people like Dayna.

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  5. What a tangled web we weave...

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  6. Oh, hells bells! This is all that's needed! (NOT!)

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  7. this is a hot mess, get her out of here

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  8. Here's my two cents. I was suspect from the beginning on this one. There was the FIRST one of these event that happened earlier in the year, and then there was this one.

    It takes an asshole to stiff a server a tip, even the stingiest patrons will leave something.

    But this was on the opposite end of the country and it was too much like the last one.

    Now unless the Westboro Baptists are running a scam, it was simply too much to believe that this happened again, in exactly the way the last one went down.

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    Replies
    1. Several months back a colored girl had this happened to her supposedly. Only the receipt had racial slurs on it.

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  9. Not all gay people are nice. Unfortunately, I've known a few of them or shall I say I KNEW a few of them. I think we as a gay community have just about the same representation of scammers, opportunists and just not very nice people who are all about themselves. Once must be careful not to put halos around all gays just as we shouldn't with straight folks. As that RR once said "Trust but verify."

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  10. Jenna1:59 AM

    I don't condone what she did. But I think we should all back off a bit. This girl has some seriousl mental problems. I fear that the backlash from this could lead to suicide, which would be tragic. Lets all try to have some compassion and let her know that everyone doesn't hate her for what she did. Some of us just sympathize.

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  11. Anonymous2:45 PM

    At Jenna, well that escalated quickly...

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  12. Anonymous1:09 PM

    Please lets all hold hands and sing kumbaya... Really, is there always an excuse for behavior like this? Is it rational that a person whom behaves this way is now a "victim" What about assuming some personal responsibility?

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  13. Anonymous7:18 AM

    This is the hallmark actions and behavior of a sociopath.

    More and more I've seen the pattern, these people are everywhere but people often don't see it unless they know someone personally and see their constant lying weird, inconsistent behavior and play for our sympathy by fabricating stories of being a victim, being abused or having some horrible thing happen to them etc.

    You can't fix a bad brain, therapists and psychiatrists say. No amount of therapy works because these people don't see themselves as sick, and often refuse to seek mental health help entirely. They're in denial of their illness and wrong 'brain wiring' that inverts the truth and makes them believe wrong is right. Very very unfortunate for all of us who have to live and work with these crazies every day.

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