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Woman who received $43,000 for her ‘relentlessly gay’ yard accused of being a hoax
A Baltimore woman who raised over US$43,000 – far in excess of her original US$5,000 goal – in just two weeks after claiming her Christian neighbors threatened her over her ‘relentlessly gay’ yard has now been accused of contriving the plot as part of a scam.
Julie Baker, a widowed mother-of-four who lives on the outskirts of the city and identifies as bisexual, launched a GoFundMe campaign on 16 June vowing to make her yard ‘even more relentlessly gay’ after she had received a note from a neighbor.
She wrote that the note signed by ‘A Concerned Home Owner’ told her that her yard which features a set of colorful lamps that ‘spell out ‘love’ and ‘ohana’ – a Hawaiian word for ‘family’ – is too ‘Relentlessly Gay’ as the neighborhood 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,’ it warned.
She is now accused of contriving the story as consistencies and suspicions have surfaced.
Baker then has reportedly closed the account, saying she had raised ‘more than plenty’ of money.
Online sleuths have pointed out that both Baker and the letter she allegedly received appear to feature the same improper use of capitalization.
The letter features words such as ‘others,’ and ‘forced’ that are capitalized while her GoFundMe page shows words such as ‘home’, ‘relent’ and ‘hatred’ that are incorrectly capitalized.
Gay website Queerty reported that Baker consistently capitalizes words on her Facebook page, where she often goes on rants about Christian’s being opposed to gay marriage.
‘Myth-busting’ website Snopes contacted the police after reaching out to Baker.
It reported that when donations to the campaign reached US$43,000 critics began questioning why Baker was continuing to accumulate monies far in excess of her goal of $5,000.
Snopes then reached out to Baker asking if she could provide any information to readers to reassure them of the authenticity of her claims.
She replied to them saying, ‘I have been in contact with the police, they are satisfied with me, I am satisfied with them, and am grateful to them. They have no reason to believe that I have done anything wrong or been anything but authentic.
However Snopes found out that’s not the case when they spoke to a detective at Baker’s local precinct on 24 June after they were referred to them by ‘individuals connected with the Relentlessly Gay campaign.’
Snopes said they were told by a detective that ‘Baker was either unwilling or unable to produce the letter in question, and that she had maintained it was no longer in her possession.’
The detective also said that he had attempted to meet with Baker in person the previous day but was unable to do so.
Baker closed her GoFundMe page on 22 June. On the page, she thanked donors for their ‘extreme generosity.’
‘I just learned moments ago that I could turn off the donations, and I am doing so because I there is plenty, more than plenty, above and beyond the goal.
She also addressed the suspicions that it was a scam and promised to not withdraw any funds until the matter is cleared up.
‘On a sadder note, the world is filled with hate and fear, as such I want to work to remove any doubt about the authenticity of the letter.
‘Until then I am not taking a dime out of this account.
‘Please carry on with flooding the world with rainbows and joy, be relentlessly generous, be relentlessly compassionate, be relentlessly vibrant and stay relentlessly gay.’
The post Woman who received $43,000 for her ‘relentlessly gay’ yard accused of being a hoax appeared first on Gay Star News.
Sylvia Tan
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