You Might Like
Gay teen attacked by family in viral video a year ago adjusting to life on his own
It was a year ago this month that a horrific video showing a family verbally berating and physically abusing their young son who came out as gay went viral.
It was the family of Daniel Pierce from Kennesaw, Georgia.
That video, titled How Not to React When Your Child Tells You That He’s Gay, has been viewed more than 8 million times since it was posted on YouTube last 27 August.
‘I tried my best to regain a sense of normalcy to my life, Pierce, now 20, tells GLAAD. ‘Through hard work with a therapist, I have come to an understanding with reality and what happened almost a year ago. It’s not something that you get over – losing a huge part of my blood family is hard to comprehend.’
Pierce received financial support through an outpouring of donations via a GoFundMe account that was set up for him and was put in touch with the organization Lost N Found Youth.
The only contact he has had with his family since that traumatic day was when he was at the local post office one day and his grandmother walked up to him.
He says: ‘My only question to her was, “Why?” She was the one you first hear in the video saying that they love me, that she has known that I was gay since I was “tiny little boy,” but I made the decision to be gay. She was the one who told me I must leave the house.
‘Her response to my question was that I attacked them and that they were telling me that I was welcome to stay. It was like a kick in the stomach to hear her try to rationalize what she and her family had done to me. It was in that moment that it became reality. It no longer seemed like a dream.
‘I just got in my car and drove away. After that incident with her, I feel that it’s in my best interest for my well-being to not have a relationship with that part of my family.’
Pierce attends school at Kennesaw State University and continues to work part time at The Good Dog Co. Atlanta where he has worked since I was 16.
‘Almost a year later, life is great,’ he says. ‘I have a wonderful partner David who stood by me through it all and I have such a beautiful group of friends and chosen family who love me for being myself. I couldn’t ask for anything better than that.’
The post Gay teen attacked by family in viral video a year ago adjusting to life on his own appeared first on Gay Star News.
Greg Hernandez
You Might Like
