Earlier this week, we shared a video which showed the violent reaction one young man experienced when he came out to his family.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1df_i26wh-w
Daniel Pierce surreptitiously filmed the moment he told his father, grandparents, step-mother and his father’s sister that he was gay.
The video has since been viewed almost four million times by people around the world. In the clip, Daniel asks his stepmother if he can stay in the house and live in the basement but is firmly told that it isn’t an option.
After publishing the video, Daniel and his partner set up a GoFundMe page for donations to help cover his living costs. The teenager, who lives in the American state of Georgia, has received over $90,000 (€68,533) in donations within just three days.
Twenty-year-old Daniel told WXIA-TV that he hasn’t had any contact with his family since the incident and that he would be donating some of the money to LGBT support groups.
Daniel said: “The video was not posted for people to attack them. I wouldn’t want it to happen to me. I wouldn’t want it to happen to them. They are still my family and they are in my heart but what happened in that video is very hurtful,” he said.
He continued: “What I hope people take away from watching that is it still happens. A lot of people don’t realize that it happens,” he said.
“They see all the positive videos and the negative video never gets seen so if one family maybe watches it and maybe changes their mind in how they are going to handle it about their son or daughter coming out, one family and I will be happy”.
If you or someone close to you is affected by this issue, check in with one of these free service groups here for confidential advice and support.
