Actor Jeremy Jordan started a GoFundMe campaign to help with legal expenses to rescue his 17-year-old cousin from an ‘ex-gay' conversion facility in Texas, where she has been placed against her will.
Jordan, who stars in Supergirl as tech genius Winn Schott, wrote on his Facebook page Sunday that when Sarah announced to her family that she wanted to go to Prom with her girlfriend, her 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'.”
Texas State laws permit parents to force their children to stay in a residential boarding facility until they turn 18.
Sarah's extended family and close friends hired Christine Henry Andresen, a well-known family law attorney from Austin, Texas who specializes in LGBT issues. According to the GoFundMe page, the money collected in the campaign will go towards Andresen's legal fees.
Here's Jordan's emotional plea in full:
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.”
She is not allowed phone calls or email or any form of computer communication. She is also not allowed visitors and cannot leave the property. She is completely cut off from the outside world. She tried to run away, but was caught by the staff and returned to the facility.
Sarah's extended family and close friends are trying to win her release through the legal system, but it's not cheap. Attorney's fees in the first few weeks have already exceeded $20,000, and they are continuing to mount, with a full hearing set for July. Sarah needs your help. 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.
Spread the word so being gay doesn't mean losing freedom for Sarah. #savesarah.
He also took it to twitter, where the hashtag #savesarah started trending.
My amazing friends & fans, PLEASE help us save my sweet gay cousin Sarah who's trapped at a boarding facility in TX. https://t.co/mtVHMY1fdI
— Jeremy Jordan (@JeremyMJordan) June 4, 2016
Day 2 of #SaveSarah. Spread the word of love for our lgbtq youth. TX is a tough state to win these kinds of cases. https://t.co/iJK4U4ZwUi
— Jeremy Jordan (@JeremyMJordan) June 5, 2016
https://twitter.com/Holsondrake/status/739881780686118912
https://twitter.com/Reida94/status/739531179519418369
As of Tuesday morning, nearly $28,000 has been raised from 574 donors .
Photo credit: Save Sarah's GoFundMe page
