LGBT people may be treated better than they were a few decades ago, but they still regularly deal with discrimination and rudeness. Visibly gay people can be the target of open hatred, while less noticeably LGBT people can be put in awkward situations when people do not realize they are gay. This recently happened to Natalie Woods, a lesbian who lives in Texas, but her response was truly amazing.
As she was sitting at Snuffers Restaurant and enjoying a meal, Natalie heard the table next to her say some astoundingly offensive things. Apparently the family’s nephew had just come out of the closet, and they were using extremely homophobic language while talking about how disgusted they were. According to Natalie, she heard them mention their “awful gay nephew.” Instead of getting into a big confrontation with them, Natalie decided to take the high road.
Natalie quietly spoke to the employees at the restaurant and offered to pay their tab. After picking up the bill for the family of four, Natalie left a little note on the receipt for them. She wrote, “Happy holidays from the very gay, very liberal table sitting next to you. Jesus made me this way. P.S. be accepting of your family.”
When Natalie posted an image of this receipt on her Facebook, the post quickly went viral. She ended up being interviewed by Huffington Post. Natalie explained that she paid for the meal because she chose to “actually act like the Jesus I grew up learning about.” Instead of getting into a fight or attempting to harass the family, she was kind to them.
Natalie left the restaurant before she could see the family’s reaction. Hopefully, her kind act made them think a little bit about how they were treating their nephew. Even if they do not become avid LGBT rights supporters, they may at least realize that they need to be kinder.
Natalie says, “It’s time myself and the people of this country defend each other, defend minorities, defend people of all races and religions. Sometimes it starts with small acts of love, sometimes it’s protesting in the streets, voting, lobbying, or running for a local office.” Her method of defending the young nephew was just a simple act of kindness, but it may have a big impact.