A photograph of Jacob Tobia from his website
Just three hours before a gunman killed at least 50 people in an Orlando gay bar on Sunday, a New Yorker stopped to buy ice cream at his neighbourhood store. Behind the counter were the Muslim couple who run the store and the wife, who speaks no English, had a question to ask of her customer - Jacob Tobia, a gender nonconformist and advocate for gay rights.
"What lipstick are you wearing?," she wanted to know in Arabic. Her husband translated for Mr Tobia, who says he is of Arabic extraction himself but doesn't speak the language.
"It's from Sephora, it's my favorite," he responded.
"She says that she likes your lipstick. She thinks that you look beautiful," said the store owner.
Later that day, Jacob Tobia wrote a powerful Facebook post that has since been shared over 22,000 times. By then, the shooting at the Pulse nightclub had left the world reeling and Mr Tobia's words warning against Islamophobia, marginalization and prejudice have resonated online.
"It does not matter if the Orlando shooter was Muslim," he writes.
"His identity does not justify islamophobia
"Our fear does not justify islamophobia
"Our trauma does not justify islamophobia
"Our sadness does not justify islamophobia
"Our heartbreak does not justify islamophobia."
"Today, we must stand together against the wave of prejudice, hatred, and violence sweeping our country," he says, concluding his post with the story of how an ordinary Muslim woman with little English liked his lipstick.
To read his full note, click below.