Gay nephew of crying Congresswoman says he was subjected to conversion therapy she supports
Missouri "birther" Rep. Vicky Hartzler cried her homophobia in a House floor speech as a law was passed that would force all states to recognize the marriages of all couples regardless of whether the states themselves have same-sex marriage.
It was something that triggered the far-right Republicans to claim that somehow passing the legislation would be "dangerous." Same-sex marriage has been legal since 2015 and, thus far, the marriages haven't led to the destruction of any straight relationships. Nor have any people died as a result of couples getting married.
Speaking to CNN's Pamela Brown, Hartzler's nephew Andrew explained that posting his viral video calling her out was important not only to him but to fight back for young LGBTQ people to know that they deserve to love and be loved.
"I remember the first time I had ever saw someone stand up to my aunt. I was 13 and I saw a video posted on YouTube of someone at the University of Missouri confronting her on her homophobic policies," the congresswoman's nephew recalled. "The courage that that man had lived with me through today. I felt that it was needed to counteract her message of hate with a message so that other people who are young seeing this would know that there's someone out there that counteracts it. But her words have real power. They have real harm and consequences, as we saw in Colorado Springs."
A gunman opened fire on a Colorado Springs LGBTQ club before Thanksgiving, leaving five dead and 25 others injured. The gunman has been charged with hate crimes for a total of 305 criminal counts.
Andrew recalled that he knew he was gay when he was young, and he knew the beliefs of his aunt and the rest of his family.
"From a young age, I would say 11 or 12, it was a common pastime of me Googling LGBT and seeing what she said about it," he recalled. "The harmful policies that she is a proponent of, they have real consequences for young people like me. When I was at Oral Roberts University, I was subjected to conversion therapy practices. That was totally legal because of the policies that my aunt has helped put into place. So, after I graduated, I partnered with the religious exemption accountability project, and together with 40 other students from institutions across the country, we are advocating for all students at religious universities to receive equal protection."
He went on to recall coming out and the horrible things his family said like he was an abomination or "we love you but we don't accept you." It's a sentiment that many LGBTQ youth face over the holidays as families come together.
See his interview below or at the video here:
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