Gay TikToker Shares Video of the Time His Parents Hired an Exorcist For His Room

Andrew Hartzler’s journey as a gay man has come with its ups and downs, from being the nephew of a Republican homophobe to being invited to the White House after going viral for clapping back to her.

Now, the TikTok influencer has struck again, this time gaining traction for capturing a video of his parents bringing an “exorcist” into his bedroom to “exorcise the demons” they believed were “responsible” for making him gay.

In the video, the exorcist anoints everything in the name of Jesus and notes that places like the closet have had some extra activity.

It ends with his mother saying, “I would say this other side has just as much shenanigans.”

Talking to Insider, Hartzler detailed his parents sending him to an anti-gay conversion camp at 14, a time period he said is one of the darkest in his life.

Still, he remained true to himself, saying, “I had had enough of lying to my parents about being ‘straight.’ And I told them that I was lying to them the whole time during conversion therapy and that I was gay and there was no changing me. And I really put my foot down.”

Knowing then that his parents might try something, Hartzler, now 25, set up surveillance cameras while he was home on Christmas break after being concerned his parents would go through his things while he was gone.

The exorcist, Jon Jacobs of The Power Team — a group of bodybuilders who believe their faith in Christ has to be shown by tearing apart phone books and lifting weights — came at his parent’s call to rid his room of the devil.

“My father thought my identity issues were a ‘demonic stronghold,” said Hartzler. “He always used that type of language around my sexuality.”

Although it’s been a few years since the incident, Hartzler, who works for the LGBTQ+ rights group Oklahomans for Equality, said he felt it was important to share the video now so people can “see that there are right-wing Christian fanatics who are subjecting their children to this type of practice and that they believe being gay is something profoundly evil that has to be performed away by some ritual.”

Hartzler said he and his parents are no longer on speaking terms.

Watch the video below: