It seems sudden fame and fortune does not agree with Julie Baker. The Baltimore resident announced this week that she’s returning all the money donated to her GoFundMe campaign earlier this summer.
It all started back in June when Baker allegedly found a note taped to her front door in response to a set of rainbow lanterns she had in her garden.
“Your yard is becoming Relentlessly Gay!” the note read. “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.”
Related: Widow Receives Nasty Note Over Her “Relentlessly Gay” Rainbow Yard Lights
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She quickly launched a fundraising effort to raise money to buy more rainbow swag for her yard, setting a goal of $5,000, which she exceeded by more than 150 percent in just a few days.
But it didn’t take long for some people to grow suspicious.
Shortly after her campaign went viral, it was observed that Baker’s GoFundMe page and the letter she allegedly received displayed the same improper use of capitalization. The letter incorrectly capitalized words such as “children,” “forced,” and “police.” Meanwhile, Baker’s GoFundMe page incorrectly capitalizes words such as “home” and “relent.” A closer look at her Facebook page found similar capitalization and grammatical errors in rants against right-wing Christians.
Related: Is The $43,000 “Relentlessly Gay” GoFundMe Story A Hoax?
After being accused of lying, Baker suspended the campaign and issued a statement saying “the world is filled with hate and fear.” Now, she’s giving back all the money that was donated to her.
“It is with a saddened heart that all donations will be returned,” Baker wrote on the page shortly before deleting it earlier this week. She cited “taxes and an overabundance of resources” as her reasons for doing so.
She continued: “If a time machine were available, it would have all ended at the original requested amount. It was never about the money but being happy in the face of intolerance.”
She then requested that anyone who made donations to her give the money to local artists or educational nonprofit organizations.
h/t: The Baltimore Sun
Brian JC Kneeland
Seems like an easy way to raise some cash. Sadly, she could have done the note on her own computer!
fagburn
Once again Queerty forgets to mention they ran this daft story without so much as questioning it.
http://www.queerty.com/widow-receives-nasty-note-over-her-relentlessly-gay-rainbow-yard-lights-20150618
Gay journalism!
RIGay
I’ve stopped paying attention to these stories. Not one has come back as anything other than an authentic hoax where someone is plying social media for attention and money.
Southstguy
Even if it were real, I never understood why people felt compelled to give her 43K. She got a note on a door. There was no violence, no job loss, no damage to property, etc. A note. On a door.
LubbockGayMale
I ignore ALL funding requests now. Locally, anytime a child dies, or an adult is killed in a wreck, the news reports a ‘page’ has been established for donations. One local mom had lost custody of her child, but when he died she wanted cash! No more.
scotshot
@fagburn: Incorrect. Query included two separate links within the article – highlighted in red – referring readers to previous articles they ran.
fagburn
@scotshot: LOL!
Mark J McWilliams
I’m so mad at myself for believing this starting hate yourself is despicable glad I didn’t donate.
NJjoe
Me too! I am sick and tired of someone running some campaign to raise money for themselves usually attached to some sob story. Hell, everyone has a freaking sob story. I ignore them all!
Jacob23
Gee, maybe fewer people would have fallen for this obvious scam ($5000 for paint and jars?) if Graham Gremore and Queerty hadn’t simply republished her false story as if it were fact.
http://www.queerty.com/widow-receives-nasty-note-over-her-relentlessly-gay-rainbow-yard-lights-20150618
That’s about the same commitment to truth and accuracy that Queerty shows when “reporting” on Stonewall.
SeeingAll
@NJjoe: Or the Delta, utah, gaybashing fundraising story of that pizza chef. Queerty never reported that that had turned out to be a hoax too.
SeeingAll
http://www.queerty.com/utah-man-is-allegedly-knocked-out-almost-force-fed-bleach-and-wakes-to-find-die-fag-carved-into-his-arms-20150616 This one.
Damian Healy
Looks like she committed… A Capital offence…
Leonard Woodrow
No worse than any of the gay-hating bigots who start hoaxes about “those awful gays”.
But let’s not pretend that we gays are all lily-white George Washingtons! We are fallible people like the straights, only not so bigoted! 🙂
Jacob23
@SeeingAll: Without defending Queerty in any way, I do draw a distinction b/t reporting on that fake hate crime and “reporting” on a fundraiser. The crime was under investigation by the police. It was a real news story. The guy’s family seemed to back his story up. And there was no obvious reason that he should make it up. By contrast, the “relentlessly gay” fundraiser was dodgy from the start. The note itself doesn’t make any sense. The woman who got the note isn’t gay, so the neighbor would have no reason to think that tinted mason jars constituted a political statement. And it isn’t credible that she would re-paint her house in response to a single anonymous note. But even if you believe everything she said, it still makes no sense that she, a homeowner, would need any crowdfunding to buy some paint and jars, let alone $5000. The red flags were flying high, but Queerty took her claims and reported them as if they were established facts. Just as it now reports as “historical fact” a host of demonstrably suspect claims about Stonewall.
Kenny217
@LubbockGayMale: I don’t find them all bad. We had one here where I live. I mother was at Walmart with her son and boyfriend. As they were walking through the parking lot, a drunk driver sped through and killed the mother. Witnesses said she protected her son and took the hit. A gofundme was set up for the boy. I see no problem with that.
Jenoun
Jesus. And I barely got 200 for my go fund me to get out of a shitty relationship. She gets 40 grand to decorate her yard. Such bullshit. http://www.gofundme.com/uvxh8zy2
Andrea Petrucci
See a basic run-down of why some feel that the #RelentlesslyGay #gofundme campaign was fake from the very beginning here: https://www.change.org/p/gofundme-petition-against-fabulously-fraudulent-relentlessly-gay-gofundme-campaign/u/11882528
itzallan
With her selfish hoax, Baker literally preyed on people’s trusting and caring nature. How can you stoop lower than that? When people hear about hoaxes like this, it makes it more difficult for them to trust a situation where someone could actually need help.