This is heartbreaking.
A 19-year-old boy from the US has secretly filmed his parents verbally and physically attacking him after having a conversation with them about his homosexuality.
Daniel tries to explain to his Christian parents that he hasn’t chosen to be gay. They proceed to disown him and demand he move out. His mother then physically attacks him, before his father tells him that he is a disgrace.
Here is the video (if you can’t watch, full transcript is below). It is confronting and awful. But it’s real. And it’s what happened to Daniel. His boyfriend posted it online with this message:
“Bros, my boyfriend got kicked out of his home and disowned yesterday. It’s been a really traumatic experience for him, and I feel so terrible and angry that this happened. Fortunately, he’s living with a friend for now. Seems like he can be there long-term until he’s able to support himself.”
(Warning: The content could be distressing for some viewers.)
Although incredibly confronting, we’ve chosen to publish this video for two reasons.
The first is that it’s important we all remember that many young LGBTQI adults are being faced with this kind of reaction from their families every day. We hear so many beautiful stories about parents supporting their children after they come out, that it can sometimes be easy to forget that there are still so many others for whom the experience remains traumatic and isolating. We can’t be reminded enough that this kind of abuse and rejection is still heartbreakingly common for people in the LGBTQI community. Remembering means support is hopefully never far away.