To the editor:

I wish to thank to everyone who signed onto support the letter to the editor which appeared in the April 25 issue of the Adirondack Daily Enterprise regarding continued vandalism at my home. (“Neighbors decry anti-transgender vandalism.”)

I am very thankful and humbled by your support!

Still, this is not, or should not, be about me personally, but to send a message to those who continue to do harm to others, who try to intimidate and bully people who may be different then themselves, that this type of harassment, bias and hate will not stand here in Saranac Lake or the Tri-Lakes region.

Just to let the perpetrator know, I am not scared, frightened or threatened by your actions. I’ve lived in my house too long to want or be able to leave it.

If you cannot accept others for who they are, if you cannot “do unto others as you would have done unto you,” if you cannot “love your neighbor as yourself” perhaps you should leave our region and live elsewhere, a place where one day that hatred may just be turned back on yourself!

I would like to remind the perpetrator that you can be charged with criminal mischief if you intentionally damage someone’s property for no legitimate reason and without their permission. In New York state, criminal mischief is a class A misdemeanor that carries a punishment of up to 364 days in jail and a permanent criminal record.

As a person in a protected class (gender identity) and a victim of numerous vandalism attacks, your actions constitute a hate crime under New York state Human Rights law. Once you are identified, arrested and criminally prosecuted, I will request that you are fully sentenced under New York state law. The choice is yours!

For now, LEAVE LGBTQIA-PLUS PEOPLE ALONE to live our own authentic lives.

Do not come onto or vandalize our properties. No one is hurting or harming you. Your religious or deeply-held personal beliefs belong to you alone. Do not try to impose them on other people.

Allow others to live our lives in peace and harmony with our family, friends and neighbors!

Kelly Metzgar

Saranac Lak