VIDEO: Young Georgia Man Beaten By Christian Family After Coming Out

EDGE READ TIME: 3 MIN.

Yes, Daniel. There are good Christians out there. You just don't happen to be related to any of them.

A young man in Georgia who was beaten and disowned by his religious parents for being gay, is learning the true meaning of "Christian charity" after receiving over $9,000 in donations from strangers in less than 14 hours through an online fundraising page set up to cover his living expenses.

On Tuesday, August 26, Daniel Ashey Pierce, a student of Business Administration at Georgia Highlands College, came out to his family, captured it on his cellphone and uploaded the video to YouTube and Facebook.

The recording, which has gone viral with over 500,000 views on YouTube in one day, details Pierce's mother, father and stepmother's violent reactions to his announcement.

The video starts with a female voice, who is presumably Pierce's mother. "Daniel, I want to tell you before I say anything else, that I love you. [..]I have known that you were gay since you were a tiny little boy."

Her motherly understanding soon devolves into dogma. "You can go off of all the scientific stuff you want to. I'm going by the word of God."

She then issues the threat "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. Because I will not let people believe that I condone what you do."

An unidentified voice in the room defends the mother's actions. "I have a lot of friends that are gay, but they're friends.[not family]"

The scene turns violent when a third voice, identified later by Pierce on this Facebook page as his stepmother, Susan Highfield Pierce, shrieks "You told me on the phone that you made that choice. You know you wasn't born that way. You know damn good and well that you made that choice."

The remainder of the clip shows Pierce being physically beaten by his father and stepmother who scream "You're a damn queer!" and "I'll beat your damn head in!"

The YouTube clip caught the attention of Dan Savage, who posted the video and wrote:

"What can we do to shame these fucking hateful inbreds? I know they think they are in the right, but how can we show them the cultural tide is leaving them behind? If they truly have gay friends like they say they do, then there must be SOME tolerance in their community that would and should shame them and ostracize them for the way they are trying to shame and ostracize this poor kid."

An online fundraising page was set up on GoFundMe to assist the disowned college student with his living expenses. As of this writing, 287 people have collectively donated $9,020. Comments from the supportive strangers include:

"Stay strong Daniel! Get out of whatever small town you are in and move some place that is accepting. Me and my partner live in New Orleans and it is very accepting. This coming weekend is Decadence, it's like a gay Mardi Gras. Your experience will get better I promise. You will find a new family in the LGBT community."

"I'm a Christian. I don't promote anyone to be gay and it is against my beliefs. On the other hand Daniel Christianity is so much more focused on loving one another than hating others for their actions. I don't have a problem with that lifestyle I don't believe in it but in no way shape or form do I hate you. You're family isnt practicing Christianity they are practicing ignorance."

If you'd like to donate to help Daniel, visit - http://www.gofundme.com/dnoqgg


by EDGE

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