A young gay student can now go to college thanks to the help of strangers.
Seth Owen was disowned by his Baptist parents after revealing to them that he was gay.
The student who graduated with honours from high school thought that his chance of going to college was over, that was until one of his teachers stepped in.
Owen hoped to attend Georgetown University but found himself without any kind of monetary support having only just graduated.
When Seth’s biology teacher, Jane Martin heard of his predicament she set about finding a way to him into further education.
Martin set up a GoFundMe page for Seth to raise money for his tuition but she could never have imagined what happened next.
Martin told NBC;
“After we had hit $2,000, Seth was just like, ‘I’m so surprised that people, like, actually care about me.”
But the final figure would far surpass $2,000 and in the end, the GoFundMe page raised over $120,000 to help support Seth through his college education.
Seth’s parents put him through conversion therapy but when it didn’t work he was forced to leave home.
“The worst part was I was packing my bags, and I was walking out the door, and I was hoping that my mom would stand in my way, I was hoping that she would say, ‘I love my child more than I love my religion.”
Owen is now capable of attending university and achieving his goals but unfortunately, he is not alone.
According to Pew Research Center, almost four in ten LGBTQ American adults have been rejected by family or friends after revealing their sexual orientation.
It’s so hard for me to imagine as a parent ever disowning one of my children. My kids come before any beliefs that I have and despite his parents saying they did it because they are Christians, putting your child out on the street is probably one of the most un-Christian things that you can do.
Seth applied for financial aid before being disowned and has said that if it comes through he’s going to use the money raised to set up a fund for other young LGBT who have found themselves in the same situation.
