 |
Julie Baker lives in Baltimore and has a small front garden that she likes to work in, and likes to keep colorful and pretty and, well, according to one neighbor, gay … too gay. In fact, that neighbor, unhappy with Julie’s multi-colored garden, wrote this note to her:
“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 Homeowner”
Your kind? It makes one wonder what God might think of that because I imagine She isn’t sitting up there in Heaven dividing the world into Us and Them, but then I am not some religious zealot wingnut in Baltimore.
Luckily, Julie Baker wasn’t worried either, because rather than tone it down, she turned it up, and launched a GoFundMe page to help make her garden more “relentlessly gay.” In fact, if she says if she raises enough money, she’s gonna put a Rainbow Roof on top of her home. Here’s what Julie says on her Go Fund Me page — and you can go there if you wanna donate:
I opened my door, and found a note from my neighbor. Regarding a set of rainbow jar solar lights hanging in my yard that spell out “Love” and “Ohana” [Hawaiian for 'family']. They informed me that the neighborhood is “christian” and has “children” and asked me to stop being “relentlessly gay”…. Needless to say… I need more rainbows… Many, many more rainbows…. So, I am starting this fundraiser so I can work to make my Home even More “relentlessly gay” If we go high enough, I will see if I can get a Rainbow Roof! Because my invisible relentlessly gay rainbow dragon should live up there in style! Put simply, I am a widow and the mother of four children, my youngest in high school and I WILL NOT Relent to Hatred. Instead, I will battle it with whimsy and beauty and laughter and love, wrapped around my home, yard and family!!! Thanks for your relentlessly gay support!
As of this morning, Julie has raised over $40,000 for a rainbow roof, and maybe a rainbow front door and shutters, and, what the hell, maybe some actual rainbows. Julie has also created a video to thank her supporters:
Thousands of people that I don’t even know are standing up and saying it okay to be ‘relentless.’ Something that started out as an insult, was supposed to be an insult, now is suddenly this wonderful thing, and why not? Why not be relentlessly you, why not be relentlessly fabulous? Why be subtle, why be shy? Why hide it? It’s okay to be who you are. I told my kids one of the reason I love rainbows is because they’re made up of broken light. It’s fractured, it’s cracked… kinda like a lot of hurt people. But because of it it’s beautiful, and maybe even more magnificent. And I think that’s one of the reasons I’m driven more to get this message out, especially since this message has kinda been dropped in my lap! So yeah, I’m gonna have a rainbow house, and it’s going to be fabulous. And it might irritate the person that did it, but it’s not about irritating the person that did it, it’s about being relentlessly joyful, and being damn proud of it, and sharing that with other people. I want the planet to go ‘hey, be relentless,’ because it should be a good thing.
And it is also relentlessly gorgeous and relentlessly free and relentlessly positive and looking at it makes me relentlessly happy ...
 |
Monday, June 22, 2015
Can I Get An Amen? Relentlessly Gay Gardens!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I hope the h8er neighbor moves away after all the rainbows are in place!
ReplyDeleteClearly if the "Concerned Homeowner" wants to improve the quality of life for the children in the neighborhood, the best thing she can do is relocate far, far away.
ReplyDeleteWhat does neighbor do when a rainbow
ReplyDeleteappears in the sky. Grab the children
and hide in the basement?
relentlessly gay is my new motto
ReplyDeleteMy first thought was "how can a garden be gay?" I mean, flowers. Some people are just looking for something to make a big deal about. I love her response!
ReplyDeleteWhy shouldn't a garden should be gay, in the original sense of the word? Why shouldn't a gardener be able to have a gay garden in the modern sense of the word if they so wish? People live their lives viewing the world through their own prisms. If I see a garden with all the colours of the rainbow I don't immediately think GAY! Help let's move! I might think the garden garish, I might like your garden, but clearly the unchristian neighbour views the world through a prism of hatred. perhaps some of the money should be used to give the neighbourhood lessons in empathy?
ReplyDeleteIn my garden there's a rainbow wind sock, which used to be my daughter's; it doesn't mean I am about to rush out and demand a gay revolution....or does it?