>> ‘Christian’ Family’s Terrifying Response to Son Coming Out : When Daniel Pierce told his extended family he was gay, he didn’t expect the violent, hateful reaction he received. He is now staying with a family friend, away from his abusers.
Lorsque ce jeune américain a dévoilé son homosexualité, il ne s’attendait pas à une réaction aussi violente de la part de ses parents et grands-parents :
“Tu pourras faire semblant de le nier autant que tu voudras, mais je crois en Dieu et au fait que Dieu ne crée personne ainsi. C’est un chemin que tu as choisi volontairement d’emprunter et nous ne pouvons plus te soutenir” a déclaré la belle maman de Daniel Ashley Pierce, 20 ans, avant de l’inviter rapidement à déménager en lui assénant quelques coups au passage.
Le jeune homme a pourtant bien tenté de l’expliquer : son orientation sexuelle ne relève en aucun cas d’un choix. Et, dès le début de l’enregistrement, on entend la grand-mère de Daniel affirmer qu’elle le pressentait depuis sa tendre enfance qu’il était homosexuel, mais pour sa famille, ses pseudos arguments scientifiques ne sont que de la propagande de charlatans :
“Tu vas devoir te trouver un autre endroit pour vivre, car je ne souhaite pas du tout que les gens croient que j’approuve ton comportement. Tu n’es qu’une pédale.”
Le jeune homme originaire de Géorgie a eu la bonne initiative heureusement de filmer cette conversation incongrue qui va très rapidement virer à l’altercation verbale et physique :
“Je voulais être certain qu’il y ait une preuve si jamais quelque chose m’arrivait”, comme ce fut effectivement bien le cas.
Le petit ami de Daniel a mis en place une collecte de fonds, ainsi que la vidéo en ligne sur YouTube, rapidement devenue virale. Les internautes se sont largement solidarisés, et plusieurs dizaines de milliers de dollars ont depuis mercredi dernier été levés pour aider le jeune homme à assumer ses frais de subsistance.
La tante de Pierce, Teri Cooper, a confirmé l’authenticité de la vidéo à son avocat, expliquant qu’elle avait également pris en charge Daniel suite à ses messages d’alerte. Sa famille tentait de le contraindre à subir une séance d’exorcisme pour “chasser les démons de son homosexualité”. Et à la fin du film, on entend distinctement le père du jeune homme lui crier qu’il est “la honte de la famille, une pauvre pédale” pour ensuite le violenter.
Daniel est depuis hébergé chez des amis à Atlanta, mais reste très affecté. Il a repris ses cours et espère pouvoir se spécialiser en psychologie.
Terrence Katchadourian
@stop_homophobie
>> hristian Parents Caught On Tape Beating Their Gay Son Moments After Disowning Him.
“You can deny it all you want to, but I believe in the word of god and god creates nobody that way. It’s a path that you have chosen to choose,” said Daniel’s mom during the confrontation.
His mother then tells Daniel that his family will no longer support his “habit” and he will need to leave immediately:
Since you have chosen that path, we will not support you any longer. You will need to move out and find wherever you can to live and do what you want to because I will not let people believe that I condone what you do.
Near the end of the video, Daniel’s father joins the confrontation and calls his son a “disgrace” before beating him and yelling, “You’re a damn queer!”
The video, which Pierce captured on his cell phone and a coworker uploaded, has been viewed more than two millions times on YouTube at press time, since it was published Wednesday evening. Pierce’s boyfriend set up a GoFundMe account to help his partner cover living expenses, as the family made good on its threat to cut the teenager off financially, even taking his car. At press time, the GoFundMe page has raised more than dozen dollars.
Pierce’s aunt, Teri Cooper, confirmed the video’s authenticity to The Advocate, explaining that she picked Daniel up on Wednesday after responding to a frantic text alerting her that his family was trying to stage an “intervention” to “pray away the gay.” Cooper says when she arrived at the home, the family wouldn’t let her inside, but Pierce emerged with a split lip. Cooper says that wound came from his stepmother, who punched him in the mouth during the altercation that can be overheard in the video.
Cooper also confirmed that Pierce is now staying with her and supportive friends in Atlanta, where he is safe, though still shaken by the week’s events and the surrounding publicity from his assault quickly going viral. Cooper explained that Pierce had just started classes last week at Georgia Highlands College, where he plans to major in psychology.
In the opening moments of the video, Pierce’s grandmother can be heard telling the young man that she has known since he was a small child that he was gay. Nevertheless, the woman tells her grandson that she believes he has made a choice to be gay, that it is “a path [he has] chosen”. When he tries to refute her claims by pointing to “scientific proof” that sexual orientation is innate, she says she believes in “the word of God,” not so-called science.
