Hometown hero ‘shakes up her world’

Mahatma Gandhi told us, “In a gentle way, you can shake the world.”

That is just what Peggy Stabile did, starting 29 years ago when her son confided to her that he was gay. As there were no resources for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender individuals in our community at that time, Peggy took it upon herself to hold meetings in her home until the numbers of participants grew sufficiently that the space was no longer adequate.

That was when St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in Santa Clarita agreed to provide a meeting place for the group.

You can read more about this community group in the June 13 issue of The Signal, where you can also read an article in the USA Today portion of the paper telling us that the “LGBTQ community has suffered its worst year.”

We read there that “People are dying as a result of anti-LGBT violence almost daily in this country, and it is everyone’s problem.”

The number of transgender and gender non-conforming deaths is definitely on the rise; particularly victimized are transgender women of color. Fortunately, all of this is not so in Santa Clarita.

We can be so very proud and happy that we have a hometown hero by the name of Peggy Stabile, a remarkable member of our community. Peggy has been willing, for the past 29 years, to put her beliefs in fairness and social justice on the line in the creation and development of this wonderful, safe place for the LGBT members of our Santa Clarita community! And that is not all that she does to improve the lives of people residing here.

In her gentle, beautiful, smiling way, she has managed to “shake up our world,” just as Mahatma Gandhi prescribed. We can all do something to “shake up the world” and add to a more joyous and fulfilling life for our families, friends, and neighbors.

Sally White

Valencia