When Daniel Ashley Pierce told his family last October that he was gay, his stepmother seemed to be supportive, and his father had no response.
All that changed Wednesday, when Pierce’s family attempted to stage a delayed intervention, berating the 20-year-old for “choosing” to be gay and demanding that he move out of the family’s home.
But Pierce, who, according to his public Facebook page, is studying business administration at Georgia Highlands College in Rome, might have the last word, as a video he recorded of the confrontation has gone viral.
The five-minute, profanity-laced video, originally posted by a friend of Pierce’s, has logged more than 2 million views, and a GoFundMe site set up to raise money for Pierce’s living expenses has raised over $56,000 in one day. On the video, which doesn’t show faces, a conversation among Pierce and family members escalates into a physical altercation with screaming and profanity.
Warning: Video contains graphic language and violence — watch it here.
In a Facebook posting about the incident, Pierce said, “What a day. I thought that waking up at 9:48 and being 15 mins late to work was going to be the biggest problem today. But I didn’t know that my biggest problem was going to be getting disowned and kicked out of my home of almost twenty years. To add insult to injury, my stepmother punched me in the face repeatedly with my grandmother cheering her along. I am still in complete shock and disbelief.”
More than 21,000 comments have been left on the YouTube video of the confrontation.
Thursday night, Pierce posted another note on Facebook: “Thank you for all of your support. I need some down time for myself and I am in a safe place.”
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