Man's "coming out" to family video goes viral (& very wrong)

[Shaun]

I'd advise you don't watch it if you're particularly sensitive about the subject (or are afraid of coming out)... it's a pretty soul-destroying watch (even if you're not very sensitive).

1df_i26wh-w

http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/secretly_recorded_coming_out_video_that_is_every_l gbt_child_s_nightmare_goes_viral

Daniel Ashley Pierce from Georgia posted a video to his Facebook page Tuesday. That video, which was later posted to Reddit and YouTube, has gone viral, with almost 850,000 views in just two days. It depicts his family's response to him coming out. In the video, Daniel's mother says she knew since he was "a tiny little boy" that he is gay, but she also say that he has "made a choice" to be gay.

Daniel's boyfriend set up a GoFundMe page to help Daniel with living expenses. The New Civil Rights Movement has been told by a person in touch with Daniel that he is safe, living with a trusted relative, and he's "overwhelmed" by all that's happened.

The video begins with a woman, possibly Daniel's mother, saying, "Daniel, I want to tell you before I say anything else, that I love you."

"You can deny it all you want to," the woman continues, "but I believe in the word of God, and God creates nobody that way," Daniel's mother tells him. "It's a path that you have chosen to choose."

Daniel, who is 20, talks about his biology and psychology classes. He tells his family he believes that "scientific proof trumps the word of God."

"You go by all the scientific stuff you want to," she responds. "I'm going by the word of God."

The woman then says, "we will not support you any longer."

"You will need to move out, and find wherever you can to live," she adds. "Because I will not let people believe that I condone what you do."

As the exchange heats up, there sounds like a slap, the camera is jarred, and Daniel says, "You're not going to ****ing hit me."

Someone else says, "Son of a bitch," and it sounds like a physical altercation is underway.

Daniel is called "a damn queer," "a disgrace," and "a little piece of ****."

Someone, likely a woman, says, "I'll beat you..."

In the end, the family disowns Daniel, some members appear to get physically, emotionally, and verbally abusive, and they hide behind their Bible.

In an email, Daniel told the Huffington Post today why he started to record the video. "I wanted to make sure there was evidence in case something happened."

The Huffington Post adds that Daniel "came out as gay last October. At the time, his father was unresponsive and his stepmother seemed supportive. However, things took a turn for the worse Wednesday when Pierce found himself a part of what he describes as a 'delayed intervention' involving his father, stepmother and grandparents. He apparently captured footage of the interaction on camera."

"Their reaction was pretty much expected [once] I chose to leave instead of pray because they have always been very vocal about not supporting the gay lifestyle," he told HuffPost. "My [stepmother's] reaction was the most surprising and hurtful."

The family members involved in the intervention, which he says was "driven by my grandparents," have not contacted the media, but they left Pierce a voicemail telling him to remove the video of the incident from YouTube. Pierce also says he did not contact police over the apparent altercation in the video.

Daniel's boyfriend posted the video to Reddit. A friend of Daniel's posted it to YouTube, and Dan Savage posted it on his blog, followed by Joe.My.God. and The New Civil Rights Movement. Soon after other sites, including the Backlot and The Advocate, had published it as well.

And here's the GoFundMe page (http://www.gofundme.com/dnoqgg) Daniel's boyfriend set up for him. Daniel now has control of the page we're told, and we have been told he will be the one who gets all the proceeds from the page, which currently stand at over $23,000.

[Ammi]

..jeez..:sad:..this is the very, very, very worst of people..the worst of beliefs and of putting what 'others may think' with those same prejudiced beliefs before the love of your own child...this made me cry, it's easy to say that his life will be better without that judgement in it and without parents who cannot see who he is, accept who he is and love who he is but the pain of their rejection will rule so much about how he feels about himself....

..what they have done for him/what his father has done for him..?..they've done nothing/they've done nothing that matters or is of any importance because they don't love him for who he is....what they've done is damaged him with their prejudice...


..Daniel..:hug:....

[Liam-]

That's one of the most heart wrenching things i think I've ever seen.. i can't even begin to imagine what he must have felt, what sort of parents would do that to their child? i just don't get it.

[AnnieK]

:sad: I have no words for this. Incredibly sad. I would like to say this is an isolated incident these days but I have no idea if that is true.

[arista]

"Made That Choice"


Bible Folk
poor guy - stands no chance


Yes Shaun its wrong
but some places in UK and USA
are so Anti Gay,
It changes but some people never back down.
Its in their bible

[lily.]

I was almost in tears watching this. As a mother, I can't imagine ever treating my child like this.

We're very liberal in my house... in fact, my 17 year old daughter told her 13 year old brother that 'you have to come out as straight in this house'... lol..

But, seriously, to have your own family treat you that way is just appalling. I could understand that level of vitriol if he was a murderer, but it is just so backwards to feel like that about sexuality.

[Niamh.]

I don't think i want to watch that. I don't understand parents like that, how something like being attracted to other men could change how you feel about your son :(

[Amy Jade]

He's better off without them frankly.

My 18 year old cousin came out as gay a few weeks ago just before he went on holiday and my auntie Kate threw him and his boyfriend a BBQ to celebrate and meet our huge family and everyone is totally fine about it.

[lostalex]

it's so ridiculous she starts off saying she knew he was gay since he was a small child, then says it was his choice, WTF.... so silly/

The stupidity of religion.

Why does the UK still have a state religion?

[billy123]

It just amazes me that that there are still people around that are so backwards.

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/5e/5ea7bdca0e380defbb39fcebc5ebaf042c2bc987b4f78d1f73 b77d33fbcd8646.jpg

[T*]

Very very sad to watch :(

[JoshBB]

Oh my god, how *****ing horrible. I thought the world changed :bawling:

[Liam-]

Oh my god, how *****ing horrible. I thought the world changed :bawling:

The world has changed, religion hasn't and that's the problem in situations like this

[JoshBB]

it's so ridiculous she starts off saying she knew he was gay since he was a small child, then says it was his choice, WTF.... so silly/

The stupidity of religion.

Why does the UK still have a state religion?

I want the church disestablished too. Wales and Scotland have done it, just need England to follow. We should have a vote tbh.

[T*]

Seeing this just makes me glad that I was born into a non-religous family. If I need to come out, or any of my siblings for that matter (one already has); My parents will be happy for them. In my eyes, I don't think anyone should come out as that just makes gay people seem different to others, and that's not the case. Just let your families find out for themselves! :laugh: At least, that's what i'm going to do, as I'm not straight. (But i'm not Gay or Bi either! I'm myself, and no-one needs labels. :amazed: )

[Niamh.]

Very wise Tom :love:

[hijaxers]

What kind of people are these 'parents' they make me sick to my stomach ! My only daughter is gay and her sexual orientation makes no difference to the wonderful woman that she is, i must admit that realising i would have no grandchildren made me slightly sad, but having grandchildren is not a divine right. Everyone should appreciate their children for who they are as people.
This poor chap is better off without these vile, nasty hypocritical morons.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Can the parents not have deduced this just from his voice?

[CaudleHalbard]

Dreadful. The relatives prefer to hide behind what is largely a work of imagination written very many years after the death of it's main subject.

[Kizzy]

I'm not watching, it sounds as bad as he was expecting it to be, the amount of support he's received outside the family is great. Hope he and his partner have a happy life and can put this behind them, maybe one day the family will accept him, hope so.

[Niamh.]

What kind of people are these 'parents' they make me sick to my stomach ! My only daughter is gay and her sexual orientation makes no difference to the wonderful woman that she is, i must admit that realising i would have no grandchildren made me slightly sad, but having grandchildren is not a divine right. Everyone should appreciate their children for who they are as people.
This poor chap is better off without these vile, nasty hypocritical morons.

She still could have kids, so you never know :love:

[Vicky.]

Disgusting...but why on earth was it filmed in the first place :umm2:

[Liam-]

Disgusting...but why on earth was it filmed in the first place :umm2:

He filmed it so that if they did do anything to him, which they did, then he'd have proof of it

[Tom4784]

What awful parents, If I was him I'd be glad to be disowned because who would want those unevolved apes as family?

He'll thrive without them and it'll end up hurting them more than it will him.

[Kizzy]

I just watched the vid and he does sound a bit bolshier than I was expecting, that 'basic biology/psychology' personality is determined in the first 6 weeks... no it isn't.
There's obviously a lot that's gone on in this family with regard to arguing on this subject and others, so it's not really just his 'coming out' involved here is it?

[Ninastar]

Awful. So bloody awful. It's a shame that in this day and age, people still believe that being gay is a 'sin'. You've got plenty of religious people who aren't against it, I just wish the rest would follow suit.

It's not even always down to religion. Some people just think it's wrong, which is a shame. Hopefully this boy can manage without them. He doesnt need parents like that in his life.

[Brother Leon]

It's sad obviously, but I struggle to understand why you would want to film something like that tbh. I didn't film myself telling my parents the several times I've ****ed up in case my dad goes on a mad one(he usually did so I might have had some gold there lol).


Edit: not saying he ****ed up coming out in case someone tries to say that :laugh:

[Braden]

I feel so sorry for him, some people are pure evil.

I'm glad he is in a safe place now.

[Liam-]

It's sad obviously, but I struggle to understand why you would want to film something like that tbh. I didn't film myself telling my parents the several times I've ****ed up in case my dad goes on a mad one(he usually did so I might have had some gold there lol).

His family might have portrayed themselves as some sort of loving 'accepting' family, considering his mother (i think) said she had gay friends, to try and shy away the homophobic label, if i was him i'd have wanted to expose them for what they were as well :laugh:

[Ithinkiloveyoutoo]

Sad. And I just watched praying for Bobby again the other day. He'll be fine. Good thing he has support from one fam member.

[Xtopher]

Ow, hard watch this early in the morning.

[Ramsay]

He's better off without them frankly.


Pretty much, they really showed their true colors

[LukeB]

wtf........

[Jarrod]

1df_i26wh-w

I'm shocked. Why are there people like that around?

[GypsyGoth]

:sad:

[Jarrod]

It's terrible isn't it?

[Crimson Dynamo]

welcome to america and a 30 year out of date religious culture. it would have been the same reaction in the UK in say 1984 so i would not get too outraged

[T*]

It's sad, but there's already a thread on it, Sorry :(

[Crimson Dynamo]

and i still say that listening to the poor guy i can tell he is probably gay from his voice so why was his fecking mother so surprised?

[LukeB]

the mother is a ****

[Marc]

Idiots

[GypsyGoth]

It's terrible isn't it?

It makes me sad and soo annoyed, life shouldn't be like that. And even when he tries to reason with them, they talk about the word of god. Shame on them for treating him that way when he needed their understanding and support. I hope they end up in that hell they believe in.

He's better off away from them, and I hope he finds happiness.

[GypsyGoth]

and i still say that listening to the poor guy i can tell he is probably gay from his voice so why was his fecking mother so surprised?

I think it's because it's against her god. I suppose she didn't care if her son was effeminate, but once he came out, I guess then it became a crime against her god.

[Brother Leon]

welcome to america and a 30 year out of date religious culture. it would have been the same reaction in the UK in say 1984 so i would not get too outraged

lol

I guarantee you those same reactions happen in 2014 in England. What a terrible post.

[GiRTh]

His family remind me of my family. This kind of religious brainwashing is more common than people think. I feel sorry for everyone in this vid to hid mum for having such uncompromising beliefs to the point that it clear her 'God' is more important to her than her son and I feel sorry for him for having to deal with that awful woman for the rest of his life.

[Crimson Dynamo]

lol

I guarantee you those same reactions happen in 2014 in England. What a terrible post.

I am sorry if this happened when you came out but it was probably an exception that rather proves the rule

[Livia]

it's so ridiculous she starts off saying she knew he was gay since he was a small child, then says it was his choice, WTF.... so silly/

The stupidity of religion.

Why does the UK still have a state religion?

Remind me... what is the motto of the United States of America?

Not all religious people are bigots. It makes me smile that while people are quite rightly condemning this man's treatment by the people who should love him most, all religious people are being lumped together as being the same. They are not.

[joe199998293]

I think that's disgusting. But I find it weird because she said something like 'I've known you were gay since you were 3' and later on she says he made a 'choice'... I'm sorry but I don't think a three year old is old enough to decide whether he likes boys or not...

[Anaesthesia]

That was horrific :(

[lily.]

Disgusting...but why on earth was it filmed in the first place :umm2:

As far as I know... [I saw this whole thing on reddit]... He came out to his parents a few days earlier, and then he came home to an 'intervention' organised by his parents, grandparents and uncle/aunt... they wanted him to pray away the gay.. and, he switched the phone on to record it.. possibly with the intention of showing it to his friend, but then it got uploaded to youtube, then reddit and now it's viral..

[Marsh.]

"I've known you were gay since you were a little boy"

"You made that choice!"

:crazy:

[Firewire]

I just watched this. I was hesitant whether I would or not and it has taken me a few days to press play and I was truly not expecting this. Parents are supposed to love their child no matter what and the fact that they chose God over their own son makes me physically ill. Attacking him, for something he can't help, made it even worse. Daniel sounds very educated and his made sure he's been ready for this day, but it wasn't enough. I'm glad he has a boyfriend who loves him as his family do not. His parents, his aunt/uncle and grandparents are disgusting people. Anyone who argues that his family are just expressing their feelings or opinion are just as bad as they are. How could you disown your own child because they prefer men to wowen (or vice versa)? Why is that so disgusting and hard to accept? I truly feel terrible for Daniel as no one should be treated like that by their own family. But now he knows he's better off without them. His family don't deserve a son like him.

[Black Dagger]

Diabolical human beings, they don't deserve him.

I feel so privileged that my family supported my regarding my outing.

[Brother Leon]

I am sorry if this happened when you came out but it was probably an exception that rather proves the rule

I'm not gay lol


I know someone who was beat up and "disowned" though when he came out in this country, hence why I said that.

[Marsh.]

it's so ridiculous she starts off saying she knew he was gay since he was a small child, then says it was his choice, WTF.... so silly/

The stupidity of religion.

Why does the UK still have a state religion?

What does this have to do with the video about an American coming out? :conf:

[Jamesy]

I read a quote somewhere of him saying he filmed it too just in case anything harmful happened towards him, so he had evidence. The tone of the voices in the video seem to imply it's not the first time they've had an argument about it. But then if he did "come out" a few days prior to the video then arguments probably were brewing for days and it started to get to a point he was scared what they may do to him.

Problem with people so religiously strong is that when one of their own, like a child, 'turns' against those rules and beliefs, it's like a stab in the heart. They take that very personally and react in a very aggressive way, almost like how anyone would react to someone you know becoming a murderer or rapist (extreme examples I know). The child they brought up has changed and has been poisoned, they're beyond repair and have no place in their lives. That's horrible to think, and even more horrible for me typing these words right now. But that's the harsh truth of religious people such as this that are so heavily invested in beliefs, it's unspeakable to break any of that, and once you have, well, in their eyes you're dead to them.

I think the family setting down their opinions was fine. The "you're going against our lord" lines were a bit too much, but as highlighted in the above paragraph not surprising for people that heavily invested in beliefs. But hitting your own child is disgusting, whatever you believe in, whether you're religious, an atheist, whatever background you come from, inflicting physical damage on someone you know, your child, is utterly vile and it made me sick listening to that in the video.

One good thing that has come of this is the massive support this guy has got from not just people in the US, but people around the world. Gay acceptance is far from perfect. But the amount of support that he has received over this just really shows how times are changing. This is most likely a video that will shake a lot of people who are worried about coming out to their families. Although hopefully the positive aftermath of this will show young men and women that you do not have to be worried about who you are, as there is always support out there.

[Ammi]

I just watched this. I was hesitant whether I would or not and it has taken me a few days to press play and I was truly not expecting this. Parents are supposed to love their child no matter what and the fact that they chose God over their own son makes me physically ill. Attacking him, for something he can't help, made it even worse. Daniel sounds very educated and his made sure he's been ready for this day, but it wasn't enough. I'm glad he has a boyfriend who loves him as his family do not. His parents, his aunt/uncle and grandparents are disgusting people. Anyone who argues that his family are just expressing their feelings or opinion are just as bad as they are. How could you disown your own child because they prefer men to wowen (or vice versa)? Why is that so disgusting and hard to accept? I truly feel terrible for Daniel as no one should be treated like that by their own family. But now he knows he's better off without them. His family don't deserve a son like him.

..I've thought about this a lot, it's a hard thing to get out of your head tbh..I think Jonathan that his family do love him but it's as you say, the 'conditions' of that 'love'..?...that they can't love him for who he is because he isn't 'what they wanted him to be'....

..it's strange because I've recently had a similar conversation with someone on another forum ..(not with them coming out..)...but how some parents can impose who they are on their children and because it's not who their children are, it can leave and often does leaves a person who may find happiness in their lives with other people..?..but it still leaves them with a feeling of 'failure' a lack of self belief and self confidence that may stay with them forever because they're his parents and no matter what he probably still loves them..?.....it's just so easy and natural to think he'll be better off without them/without the 'hate and prejudice' of their beliefs etc...but there are so many times in his life that he'll need/yearn for that 'parental/family hug', regardless of how they are because his 'programmed love' is more unconditional than theirs is and that should never be the way with a parent and child .... and he won't have those 'hugs'/feel that no matter how rubbish life can be, there is always someone there to believe in him......this is just so sad and the 'damage' is so far reaching....

[Nedusa]

It just goes to show that religious extremism is alive and well and is not just confined to Islam. These people are so indoctrinated by religious dogma that they would turn on their own son verbally and physically abusing him because he dared to stray from the word of The Lord.

Utterly reprehensible , feel so sad for this man the pain he must feel from being treated like this from his family.

I think they are the ones in need therapy to try and unravel decades of religious brainwashing.




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