Why can't everyone be like these guys? (#iammichellefruitzey)

LeeMichael McLean and Bryan Furze are a forty-something couple who live in Milton, Massachusetts, an upscale Boston suburb. I was going to say that they're typical, and in some ways they are. They're both accomplished professionals, they've got a kid, they've got a lovely home. (I'm nosy: I zillowed. Vintage, charming, no doubt full-of-the-character you don't get in new builds, and valued at well above the already hefty median price for a house in Milton.) But they're a bit atypical in that they are seem to me to be above-average involved in their community - town meeting, town boards, charitable organizations, etc. They're also gay, but that's not quite as atypical as it once was.

Anyway, they seem like the sort of folks that anyone would want as their neighbor.

But five years ago, they started getting unsolicited magazine subscriptions sent to their home under fake names like Dick Likker and Michelle Fruitzey, names that might seem absolutely HI-larious to a voice-cracking, insecure, jerk of a thirteen year old. Except that the term "fruit" for someone who's gay is so old school - I hadn't heard it in decades - the jerk was not likely to be a kid. Plus a kid would have probably outgrown the behavior and not kept it up over five years.

In all, the couple had been signed up for about 30 different magazine subscriptions, as well as one for life insurance, and have had to go to the bother of canceling them when they've received a bill.

Not to mention that the harassment was unnerving; Bryan and LeeMichael were frightened. It wasn't just the two of them. They had a son to protect.

They reported the harassment to the police, but there wasn't much they could do. Until the harasser outsmarted himself and signed the couple up for a subscription to the Boston Globe. Which they already subscribed to. So the Globe sent them a copy of the order form for what would be a duplicate subscription going to their address. This turned out to be, metaphorically, the smoking gun. They didn't have any fingerprints, but they did have a handwriting sample. LeeMichael posted a copy on a town bulletin board.

“Thanks for taking a look, neighbors,” McLean said in the posting. He also wrote, in a broad facetious barb, that the “joke is on them. What gay guy doesn’t want free issues of Vogue and Cosmopolitan?”

One neighbor, bothered by the harassment, felt compelled to file a request for town election records under the Freedom of Information Act. The neighbor used nomination papers to compare voter signatures, one by one, with the way “Michelle Fruitzey” was written on the subscription card.

Eventually, he found what appeared to be a match. Milton police were contacted, and the man was confronted by a detective. Furze said police told the couple that the suspect confessed, but that he linked the harassment to differences over local government.

“He told the officer that he was motivated by our outspokenness and our opinions about Milton’s politics and Milton’s future,” Furze said. “I have some doubts about that.” (Source: Boston Globe)

Well, I'm with Bryan Furze here as to having some doubts. Oh, no anti-gay animus at play here at all, at all. Just having a little fun with names like Dick Likker and MichelleFruitzey. 

Not incidentally, the jerk doing all this "harmless pranking" isn't just any old jerk doing "harmless pranking."

The news was startling, particularly because the alleged perpetrator had seemed to be a good neighbor, as well as serving with the couple as Town Meeting members.

“There was never any outward hostility,” Furze said...

“We did not realize the full effect it has had on us until after there was some resolution,” McLean said. “Prior to that, we had tried not to worry about it too much. At first, it was scary because we weren’t sure how many we would get or if it would advance to violence.

“After we identified who it was, we were both very anxious and depressed, and I was very upset,” McLean said. “I didn’t realize at first that it had been bothering me for the last five years. I didn’t have any place to put it, and I was ignoring it.”

Anyway, LeeMichael and Bryan made a couple of decisions.

One, although they shared the name of the person who'd been harassing them with the Globe, they asked that his name not be published. (The name will become public if the Quincy District Court - which serves Milton - decides to press charges.)

I suspect that there are plenty of folks in Milton who already know who this fellow is, who've put the two and two together of shared membership on town committees with living in the same neighborhood. So whether his name becomes public or not, there will be people in the know, and he'll have to live with shame that he's brought on himself and his family. 

The other thing that LeeMichael and Bryan decided to do was lean into the name MichelleFruitzey. They created a hashtag "iammichellefruitzey" and are putting it on tee-shirts (rainbow colored, of course!). And they're selling those tee-shirts to benefit the Gender and Sexuality Alliance in the Milton public schools. Much as I love the tee-shirt, I don't need another one, so I just made a donation. (If you're so inclined, here's the link.)

And it's Pride month, so, hey #iammichellefruitzey .

Their kindness to their harasser, their wit and creativity in turning this negative into a positive. Why can't everyone be like LeeMichael McLean and Bryan Furze? (And let's give it up for the sleuth who nabbed the perp by going through those town voting records. Talk about community activism.)