To the Editor:

Our family has had a Wilton Pride lawn sign at the end of our driveway for the past year. We have it not because we are gay (which we are) but because posting the sign is a sort of beacon that says LGBTQ+ people can feel safe in this area.

Last Wednesday, Wilton Pride announced in a press release that it will co-host Wilton’s 2nd Annual Pride Festival on Saturday, June 1. The day after the press release, we noticed our Pride lawn sign was gone. It felt a little unnerving to have had it stolen. We hoped someone had taken the sign just because they wanted it rather than because of hate. But of course, one doesn’t know.

While it was only a lawn sign of little cost, we decided to report it to the police because we didn’t know if it was an isolated incident — or if the theft was part of a larger pattern in the area. (We’d heard that since 2022, 48 such signs have been reported as missing from around town.) A Wilton police officer promptly came by and took the report. Later in the day, our next-door neighbor texted us to say she had seen the police car in our driveway and didn’t want to be nosy but wanted to check in to see if all was okay. We don’t know this neighbor well yet, so we were genuinely touched that she was thoughtful enough to check in. We texted back that all was okay. We let her know that the police officer had come by to take our report of a stolen Wilton Pride lawn sign. We reiterated that we hoped someone took it because they wanted it — and not because they didn’t like the message.

My husband and I went out of town for the weekend. When we returned home, we were greeted with the most extraordinary sight: A new Wilton Pride sign was posted on the end of our driveway, and six additional Wilton Pride signs had suddenly popped up along our side of the street! It seems our neighbor “rallied the troops,” and six of our neighbors all ordered signs! In an instant, these Wilton neighbors became our heroes. As a gay couple living in Wilton, we are filled with gratitude and with an unexpected, overwhelming feeling of Wilton Pride.

Jeffrey Busch
Stephen Davis