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Actor Jeremy Jordan Starts Campaign to Save Cousin From Ex-Gay Facility
The campaign has already raised over $40,000 and garnered support from Colton Haynes.
Supergirl star Jeremy Jordan is off to the rescue to save his cousin Sarah from an East Texas Christian boarding facility designed to "pray the gay away."
Jordan revealed the news on Facebook and Twitter, and has launched a GoFundMe campaign to cover the legal expenses that would help release his cousin:
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"Meet my cousin Sarah. At 17, her future looks bright. She is in the top 10% of her class, runs cross-country and belongs to the National Honor Society and the debate team. She is also gay. Like any high school kids in a relationship, Sarah and her girlfriend wanted to go to prom together. But when they did that, Sarah's parents, who believe that homosexuality is a sin and abnormal, sent Sarah away against her will to an East Texas Christian boarding facility for troubled teens to 'pray away the gay.'
Not only does this type of 'therapy' not work, mental health professionals from organizations like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have found it to be psychologically damaging, especially for minors. And Sarah has been told that she must stay in this facility for a whole year. So instead of being surrounded by friends and extended family who love and support Sarah for who she is, she'll be isolated in a place where the fact that she is gay is treated as a sin and an illness. Instead of preparing for college and competing in the state debate tournament, she'll be doing forced labor every day and enduring Bible-based 'therapy' for her 'disease.'"
According to Jordan, Sarah's extended family and friends have tried to win her release through the legal system, but fees have already exceeded $20,000.
"But this is about more than just one gay kid--if we free Sarah we can help show that it's not okay to try to make gay teens straight by sending them away and using the threat of God against them," Jordan wrote.
The campaign has raised over $40,000 towards its $100,000 goal. It has also raised plenty of awareness, even garnering support from Colton Haynes, who generously donated $5,000 for Sarah, and tweeted in support.
