"She found herself imagining what it would be like to confront the businesses and homeowners displaying Prop 8 signs. "I would want to go up to the front door and just sort of present myself and say, 'This is my face. I'm gay and I love my soon-to-be wife. And why do you think it's not OK for us to have the same rights that you do?'""
"Elsley recalled. Worried she'd be late for work, she wasn't able to stop and thank him. "But I am so, so grateful to him. It just felt like such an unsafe time to love who I did, and feel like people were against us and actively campaigning to take away something that I knew was going to make me happy.""
In 2008, a nurse practitioner commuted daily through Redwood City and encountered widespread support for Proposition 8, which aimed to ban same-sex marriage. The commuter felt targeted and imagined confronting homeowners and businesses displaying pro-Prop 8 signs to reveal her identity and ask why equal rights were denied. One cold morning, the commuter noticed an older man standing alone on the train platform holding a sign opposing Prop 8. The visible, solitary ally offered profound reassurance and gratitude, yet the commuter could not thank him at the time. Years later, the memory endures as a powerful example of how solitary public support can alleviate fear.
Read at www.npr.org
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