Two weeks prior to the March 7 Primary, one of our Los Paseos neighbors placed a sign in front of their home expressing an opinion on the "Knight Initiative". It was a "No on 22" sign; the only one in the neighborhood. As soon as it was dark (less than one hour after the sign was posted), a neighbor came to notify the household that a group of young men was just scared away from the house.

The neighbor reported that this group was heard saying derogatory things based on assumptions they made about the family in the house due to the position expressed on the sign; that the family had homosexual family members. Further, they were preparing to throw rocks through the windows of the home based on the assumptions they made; the family was in that room at the time and could very easily have been hurt.

Thankfully, the neighbor decided to scare off the group so there was no physical damage to the home or to the neighbors themselves. The police responded immediately to address the safety of this family. The young people were no where to be found.

I'd ask that as neighbors we value Freedom of Expression. Expressing an opinion in a non threatening way (and in a way so many folks in our neighborhood do during election time) is not an invitation to harm another's person or property.

If you want to act on the behavior and belief structure that leads to events that affected our neighbor, contact Morgan Hill Unified School District (408/779- 5272) regarding the Friday, April 14 Hate Crime Task Force Meeting at Britton Middle School.

Let's live together safely.