From Hidden Brain Media, I'm Shankar Vedantam.

This is my unsung hero, stories where one person reached out to help another in a time of need.

Thank you so much for the chance to tell you about my unsung hero.

I just left there feeling like there was hope for my situation and my

kids. I can never thank you enough for all you've done for me. And I'll never be able to repay you.

Thank you. Today's story comes from Kate Elsley. In 2008, Kate had a daily commute from San Francisco to Redwood City in nearby

suburb. She took a train, then walked to her office. Usually, this trip wasn't noteworthy.

By that year, Prop 8 had just been announced. It was a ballot proposition that aimed to outlaw

gay marriage in California. Now, Kate's commute became a ballot proposition that aimed to outlaw gay marriage in California.

Now, Kate's commute became a daily reminder that she and her partner might not be allowed to get married someday.

It was very emotional for me to walk by businesses or people's homes that had signed supporting prop 8 because I just would always think,

why do they hate me? And I would want to go up to the front door and just sort of present myself

and say, you know, this is my face. I'm gay and I love my soon-to-be wife and why do you think it's not okay for us to have

the same rights that you do. So on this day, I got off the train like every other day and it was

kind of a cold morning, which is unusual for this area.

And this one older gentleman was silently standing there on the train platform,

holding a sign showing that he was against Prop 8.

And I just was so impressed that he was brave enough to come out on a cold morning when he could have stayed at home where it was nice and warm and to be standing there all by himself.

And I paused to think about going back and saying thank you to him.

But then I knew that I would probably be late for work.

But I am so, so grateful to him.

Just felt like such an unsafe time to love who I did

...