A deeply disturbing viral video showing a family’s violent reaction to a young man’s coming out has prompted an international outpouring of support for him. (Warning: this video contains domestic violence and may be triggering to some viewers.)
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1df_i26wh-w[/youtube]
20-year-old Daniel Pierce is a young gay man from Georgia who filmed a video of his “coming out” to his Christian fundamentalist family, which ended in heartbreaking violence.
“I believe in the word of God,” his stepmother tells him, refusing to accept that being gay is not a choice. “And God creates nobody that way, it is a path that you have chosen.”
The situation soon devolves into a violent confrontation as Daniel is told to leave the family home, and his stepmother begins to punch him in the face. “My stepmother punched me in the face repeatedly with my grandmother cheering her along,” Daniel explained to LGBT news website Same Same. . “I am still in complete shock and disbelief.”
When Pierce put the video on YouTube, it soon hit the front page of Reddit.com. The video now has 2.2 million views in only two days.
Daniel is now living at a friend’s house and “getting a lot of support from those around him there” according to Same Same. “There’s been a massive reaction to Daniel’s situation in the hours since he posted the clip. Concerned and angered viewer comments on various social media sites have condemned Daniel’s family for their bigoted behaviour toward their own son.”
The story also has a small silver lining — supporters from across the globe have donated to a GoFundMe.com page — with over $66,000 pledged to him so far. Many viewers of the video were able to share similar heartbreaking reactions from their families in the comments
A set up, instigated, agitated, fake and of course gay with a side of sodomite sickness.
Are you the dad or something? There’s nothing wrong with being gay, dude. Grow up. It’s America. Violence is illegal. If this young man was MY friend, I’d would help him press charges against his boorish, sick, violent family.
Aren’t you late for a cross burning somewhere?
No, I’m a crossaphobe
Is that what your boyfriend calls it?
Violence is okay when it happens to faggots because Jesus? I see how that works.
Yeah–the Prince of Peace. Go figure.
Ahh! I stepped in TROLL DUNG!!
Stop walking backwards
Well, Georgia so…
So… this stupid bitch says, “I’ve known you were gay since you were a little boy…”, and then accuses him of choosing to be gay. Good grief.
Yeah some real twisted thinking in this abusive family, poor guy. I hope het gets far away from there.
Okay if the woman has known he was gay since he was a little boy, she must understand that no little boy would CHOOSE to be gay living with this kind of hatred? This is where intelligent Christians need to help their flock and explain that God created gay people, too. Very sad video.
They also fear atheist muslims.
And uppity women who do not need men.
That’s very painful…… very, very painful. Religion has done much to bring communities together and provide consolation in times of sorry. Sadly, many of it’s outdated dogmas, superstitions and legends are harming the world in unimaginable ways. Whether it’s denying an emergency abortion to a woman in Ireland dying in terror and agony in the midst of a distressed pregnancy, lecturing people in AIDS ridden parts of the evils on condom use, encouraging the poor to have children they cannot feed or support, or condemning people who have been born gay, religion through it’s willful ignorance and hubris is causing tremendous harm. This has got to change.
Religion generally creates those times of sorrow.
Religion has not done anything good. People do good only when they act against religious teaching The woman in this video is acting in direct accordance with the teachings of the New Testament.
The sooner he can get completely away from that family of
Neanderthal hillbilly stump jumpers the better.
If he had screwed his first cousin or sister, there
would be no problem.
Or his goat; don’t know about Georgia but in Kansas and Texas, homosexuality is expressly illegal, but bestiality is hunky dory. Go figure
He should file assault charges.
i hope he didn’t wait until midnight on Thursday to exit that despicable family’s home.
From what I’ve read in follow ups, he is living with a friend right now.
American Exceptionalism?
I think not.
Smh.
Oh Daniel, Daniel, Daniel…….what is wrong with YOU? What were YOU thinking???
You were born and raised in that family; in that state; in that environment as a whole. Did you somehow think this was going to be easy? Or a cake-walk? Well, you probably didn’t…..which is why you had your video recorder ready and running.
Buddy-boy…..it’s time for you to pack your bags, and get as far away as possible from these bigoted, lunatic, religious-zealot inbreds. And when you’re gone….you STAY gone. There is nothing left there for you there, as far as any kind of supportive, nurturing and loving environment goes. Unfortunately, your so-called “relatives” undoubtedly have a long lineage where their descendants, ancestors, etc. were happily going along using he “N” word with carefree abandon. But over the decades, however, because they’ve been herded into a pen and been forcibly retrained from using that word and all that it implies…..they did a substitution for their hate: YOU (and everyone like you) have now become the new “N”s to them. Quite sad, when you think about it.
And once you’re gone, I wouldn’t let out a final sigh of relief until there’s been a PROPER wall built along that entire Mason-Dixon Line, to help keep their corrupted, limited gene pool contained and to keep them from infecting everyone else.
Sorry it turned out this way for ya, kiddo.
But look at the bright side:
There’s starting to be an expansion of more and more places that have decided to join the 21st century.
So there you go.
That is some fine victim blaming there.
That is some fine failure in having the ability to read between the lines, and as well as being able to recognize rhetorical sarcasm, there.
Plus, it’s hardly “blaming the victim” when I indicate nothing but encouragement and support for him, for what he had to go through.
In the future, stop posting stupid, short-sighted, obtuse, fucked-up, narrow-minded observations on any of my posts (especially 12 days after the fact).
Savvy?
So now people have to read between the lines when you fuck it up? Is that the way you roll big fella?
Well, actually, “big fella”, it’s not.
The only thing that’s “fucked up” is YOU responding to something I wrote two months ago.
Same reply to you as in my third paragraph in previous post above (just substitute “12” for “60”).
Now away with you.
What makes you think Daniel or anyone else gives a damn what you think you narcasistic blood clot?
Precisely because of that reason:
I’m a narcISSISTIC blood clot.
(I charge money for being a spell checker; you’ll be receiving a bill shortly)
Ohhh, so THAT’S what christian love looks like. Darkness and violence, unless you believe….
This family had issues long before he came out. I knew as soon as he mentioned science, that it wasn’t going anywhere. It doesn’t sound anyone in this video graduated high school. His stepmother hit him? Doesn’t sound like the first time. Never would I allow that as a mother. The step mother knew he was gay since he was little, but he chose it later in life? Did she not hear herself talk? So either the family made him gay, since they took care of him(doesn’t sound like he had a happy home) or he was born that way. Just because you call yourself a Christian, doesn’t mean you are one.
These “Nuts” need to stop listening to made up bullshit from religious leaders.
These are just really, really, really, really dumb people.
And, by the way, a parent can’t throw their child out of the house until they’re an adult (17 or 18 in most states).
This happens every day to someone.
Do “Fundies” realize their Buybull contains a New Testament, too?
Thank you. My sentiment exactly. How convenient that they always seem to forget all that peace, love and “judge not lest ye be judged” hippie crap, but always always ALWAYS remember the fire, brimstone, pain and death hijinx.
Matthew 10:34 “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.
Real peaceful and loving god you have there.
It’s not my god. I wouldn’t worship an a55h01e who murders people then says “Do as I say, not as I do.”
Yes, it does. And in it Jesus states “Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose.
Timothy 1: 9-10 King James Version (1611): “Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine”
Corinthians 6:9-10 King James Version (1611): “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind”
The real question is don’t they know the bible is fictional.
Well, as far as I’m concerned there was a much better way than goading the family into this confrontation. It all started out very calmly, but the young man clearly intended for this to be ramped up into the hysterical altercation that it became. He did this for worldwide attention and money, which he got.
Evidence to support your hypothesis?
You’re ignorant.
Yes, you’re ignorant. And heartless too.
Oh, and GOADING? Really? Thought you people were all about Constitutional freedoms such as FREEDOM OF SPEECH. The boy’s own family ASSAULTED him – for doing nothing but speak his truth. So you only believe people have freedom as long as they act and think like you? Good on you, mrs mommy.
It worries me that “mommy” is in your name. This young man obviously has been abused by his family for a while. They *knew* he was gay, and they have blamed him, long before his official coming out. Chances are, if he had NOT come out, he would still have been abused, anyway. He only taped the video, btw, because he wanted evidence in case something “happened to him”.
In other words, he thought they were going to kill him and saw no way out of that. But he DID get out, recently.
Telling somebody who is being abused that they could have “stopped it” is fruitless. Abusers abuse. If it wasn’t coming out, it could have been something as simple as accidentally dropping a glass or saying the wrong thing in the wrong way. They SAY it’s because he’s gay . But if he hadn’t come out, they would blame the abuse on something else.
I’m glad the young man got away.
Not exactly the most logical trash in Georgia, are they?
To our European brethren: Now you know how America re-elected GW Bush.
What a wonderful example of how Christian Fundamentalists “support” family members…..
Ask the mother to tell about the day she “chose” to be heterosexual, should’ve been a very memorable day
I feel so badly for this young man; he’s better off without that kind of venal, prejudiced ignorance, and I’m glad he’s finding support with friends.
“I DUN EVERTHANG IN THUH WORLD FER YOO!!”