Baltimore resident Julie Baker wasted no time setting up a GoFundMe campaign after she allegedly received a nasty note on her front door complaining about rainbow-colored garden lamps in her yard.
The alleged note, which Baker claims she received earlier this month, read:
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.
Naturally, Baker launched a GoFundMe campaign to buy more rainbow swag for her yard. She raised a total of $43,500 in just a few days.
However, the whole thing may have been a hoax.
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Suspicions were raised when people noticed that both Baker and the letter she allegedly received displayed the same improper use of capitalization. The letter incorrectly capitalizes words such as “others,” “children,” “police” and “forced.” Meanwhile, Baker’s GoFundMe page incorrectly capitalizes words such as “home” and “relent.” A closer look at Baker’s Facebook page found that this seems to be a habit of hers, and that there are similar capitalization and grammatical problems in her rants criticizing right-wing Christians for their stances on marriage and abortion.
This was the red flag the smart sleuths over at Snopes need to launch an investigation into the matter:
On 24 June 2015 we spoke to a detective at Baker’s local precinct, to whom we were referred by individuals connected with the Relentlessly Gay campaign. Although Baker had stated the previous day that police were “satisfied” with her claim, the detective to whom we spoke said 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 indicated that he had attempted to meet with Baker in person the previous day but was unable to do so.
Snopes ultimately didn’t come up with a definitive answer as to whether or not Baker was being truthful, but the mother-of-four maintains the letter is totally legit. Last week, she stopped accepting donations and posted the following message, free of any capitalization errors, to her GoFundMe page:
I want to humbly thank everyone for their extreme generosity. Please now, take all of this good energy and help each other. 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.
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.
And that was the last anyone heard from the woman. She has since made her Facebook profile private and has stopped returning any requests for comment from media.
Lee Bryan
I said this was a scam the first time I read it, anyone that immediately sets up a “gofundme” page is after the money.
Frank Mosca
What Lee said! Sad thing about all these scammers on all sides is it stops folks from actually funding real needs, like the young man I know in KY who works 70 hr plus weeks and tried to get just a few thousand more to cover his college expenses and got about $500 only. . Sigh..
Tony Chaplinski
am not surprised at all. Heh it worked for the pizza people
SeeingAll
I agree with Lee Bryan. I suspected a hoax.
SeeingAll
Go read the comments under Queerty’s initial report of this story if you want to see who’s a sucker and who’s a bit more discerning.
fagburn
@SeeingAll: Yup!
#gayjournalism
SeeingAll
@Tony Chaplinski: It REALLY worked for the guy who claimed to be gaybashed twice in Delta, Utah.
Terry Purdue
This is terrible. GFM seems to be a way to just scam someone
Vermin of the worst order
NoCagada
BALTIMORE…At least we know what happened to Taffy Davenport.
SeeingAll
The Delta, Utah case was exposed as a fraud today too. The “victim”‘s family is supposedly returning all the GFM funds.
Blackceo
What kind of trailer trash tomfoolery??!!!!!
captainburrito
@Frank Mosca: I don’t think it really stops it. It’s just some people react far more generously to certain causes. Those people that gave to her may not have given to that student even if they knew about him. And i doubt he got the same exposure. $500 from strangers is pretty good going even if it fell short. It just seems like nothing when she can get over $40k for a scam and for something which was quite frivolous.
E T
She’s not proven guilty and yet everybody is puffing out their chests talking about how they knew she was guilty from the get go. Y’all think everyone’s guilty from the get go. Except captainburrito.
1EqualityUSA
She and others who scam the funding sites harm everyone. If, due to these scams, even 1 dollar is withheld from legitimate people in need, harm is done.
She uses lip jewelry to avert peoples’ attention from her lying eyes. Red herring.
Gary_Gans
@Terry Purdue: This is so vile and sad. I set up a GFM request because I’m 49, openly gay, and on 27 November 2007 I began my descent of abilities. My larynx is paralyzed. My left hand no longer functions. 2 digits used for typing, I have tremours, epilepsy, narcolepsy, blepharospasms, cervical dystonia, rigidity that has torn the muscles from my cuneiforms.
I returned home to the UK, and after extensive tests, and biopsies we had a diagnosis: a subform of Neuroacanthocytosis called Chorea-acanthocytosis. There is approximately 1,000 people affected by Neuroacanthocytosis globally. My sub-group has one other Briton diagnosed with Chorea-acanthocytosis. It is chronic, incurable, and very little options that are used for other options to improve my quality of Life.
I wear a pendant and live on my own in a semi-detached bungalow that is a Sheltered Tenancy. If I fall or something is wrong the pendant indicates the fall or I push the button it immediately activates that I might be in danger. It calls the health service, and unless I am able to tell them there is no need for their aid and assessment the ambulatory services come to my home.
I needed a surface dishwasher, my vacuum cleaner, bed and sofa broke. The cost of living is so high here in my hometown and cuts in assistance for the Disabled is frozen. I am sinking in debt so I can remain as independent as possible. The Government are doing their best to keep us from care homes, as it costs four times as much for care facilities, and I don’t want to lose my independence.
The amount that I asked for is extremely modest in comparison to this scam artist. £2,000, so I can pay off the appliances and assure that I can get back on my feet again. I never had to do something like this, and it has been humiliating for me. Ms Baker’s actions hurts those that are vulnerable and in need. Her actions should give back that money back. People like her hurts others.