A Texas couple found a note on their doorstep that has affirmed their belief in living out and proud.
Sal Stow and Meghan Stabler live in Williamson County, Texas, an area that attracted attention earlier this year for banning the Pride Flag outside county buildings.
On June 19, Stow went outside to collect some packages and found the note.
“Hello, you don’t know me but my name is [redacted],” it read. “We’re moving away today but I wanted to thank you. Seeing a pride flag waving so proudly outside your home every day has given me the courage to come out to my family and be more comfortable with who I am.”
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The note also includes a scrawled picture of someone holding the Pride Flag and Trans Pride Flag.
Stow took to Facebook to share the news, while Stabler made a post on Twitter.
“This is why visibility is SO important,” Stow said in her post. “You never know who needs the support and to know it’s ok.”
“I hope this person is ok, their family is being supportive and they find a community to connect with that can help them through this brave process. Williamson County is extremely conservative and in fact the County Commissioners voted 4-0 to not allow the pride flag to be flown on the Round Rock county court buildings. I am proud of who I am and the person I love. I will continue to be visible in whatever way I can.”
Stabler echoed her sentiments, writing: “LGBTQ Visibility Matters: Read a beautiful note found on my doorstep. I proudly fly 2 rainbow flags at my home. You never know who needs the support, who is hiding and needs a lift up.”
This isn’t the first time Stabler has attracted attention as a prominent member of the community.
An out-transgender marketing executive for a software company, she also served eight years as a member of the National Board of Directors for the Human Rights Campaign and worked on President Obama’s National LGBT Policy Committee.
In 2014, she became the first ever transgender woman named “Mother of the Year” by Business Wire.
LGBTQ Visibility Matters: Read a beautiful note found on my doorstep. I proudly fly 2 rainbow flags at my home. You never know who needs the support, who is hiding and needs a lift up. #PrideMonth2019 #translivesmatter #stonewall50 #equality https://t.co/AjpCCobJYq pic.twitter.com/rh2qT3eFys
— Meghan Stabler (@MeghanStabler) June 19, 2019
Related: Parents of Transgender Kids Are Criminals, And Other Right Wing Lunacies
SnakeyJ
So fake. Why is the handwriting so childlike but the cartoon is drawn with a very steady hand?
Darsithis
Handwriting and drawing skills are two different things. I can draw pretty well, but my handwriting is crappy and gets worse the more I write.
Thad
But you’d believe a message of condemnation with selected Bible quotes.
Seems pretty low to reject a message of love and acceptance over handwriting and artwork issues.
curiobi
And the opposite applies, my handwriting is very good, yet I can barely draw a circle. I have literally messed up stick figures. I simply cannot draw. I once competed with my 6yo niece who had crayons and drew a better house than me. So it simply is not right to decide tge letter is fake based on a difference between handwriting and drawing. They are literally completly diffrent skills.
Bryguyf69
What are you talking about? How is that handwriting “childlike”? I work with a bunch of MDs and PhDs, and I see nothing in the handwriting that would tell me it’s not written by one of my colleagues. Or by a teenager. Care to provide a scientific reference validating your criteria for deciding what is “childlike” handwriting?
Furthermore, how is that drawn with a “very steady hand”? How would you know? And why is a teenager incapable of drawing with a “very steady hand”? Do you know many teens with Parkinson’s Disease or tremors?
The fact is, writing and drawing are very different. For one thing, writing is standardized. Each letter only makes sense in relationship with other letters, and they need to line up (hence the normal use of lined paper). Drawing, especially doodles and cartoons, is not. We don’t usually use graph paper because it is freehand. A face could be missing a nose — as is the case here — and no one would complain. On the other hand, a missing letter in writing is known as a misspelling or typo.
Finally, if someone was trying to fake this, why include a drawing at all?
Your conclusions are nonsensical and unsupported by science. I’ve done research on Movement Disorders and know of nothing in the literature even remotely agreeing with you.
fur_hunter
Well, Sweetie…I just read the responses to your post and NOT ONE agrees with you. If you have that much negativity locked up in yourself, I feel really sorry for you. You wouldn’t recognize a good thing if it bit you in the ass. Pathetic.
startenout
The only fake thing here is you being on a gay news blog. The drawing is cute and in a specific style and handwriting has nothing to do with drawing and artistic ability but you already knew that and just jump here to troll.
nitejonboy
I can draw very well but my handwriting is almost scribble…..don’t judge!!! I pray this child is okay wherever they are!!
fur_hunter
Thank you very much. And it is what I tell the ‘straights’ when they bitch about us being so out and proud. It is things like this that help those who are questioning and wondering. But most ‘straights’ will NEVER understand.
lord.krath
This is why we have pride. To tell the world that lives in the shadows: you are not alone. The little things matter. In a world driven by identity, it’s best to come to terms sooner than later.
fur_hunter
EXACTLY!!! But there are so many ‘straights’ who just don’t get it….and they NEVER will. I grew up in a time where NO ONE talked about it, it was illegal and you thought you were the only one. It took me forever to finally understand who and what I was. Then Stonewall happened and the doors opened.
Bryguyf69
The title of this article is: “Kid leaves note on gay couple’s door thanking them for giving HER the courage to come out.”
How do you know that the person who left the note is female? Stow even tweeted wrote, “I hope this PERSON is ok…” I assume the gender-neutral noun was purposely chosen to protect his/her identity. Even the drawing was androgynous.
Dunedain
Because of the (female) name mentioned in the letter, what they marked white to hide her identity?
Bryguyf69
Dunedain
What female name on the letter? The name was redacted by the lesbian couple before posting so how would the writer of this article know what the name was? What was the basis for the writer to assume that the person is female?
ptb2016
Feel sorry for snakey j whose reaction to something I find moving and brave and positive so negative.
fur_hunter
You are so correct. With that kind of attitude, I can only imagine his life being totally miserable. It is sad. Wonder how many REAL friends he has? Wonder if he truly understands what a REAL friend is?