Here's Proof that the Internet Can Be a Kind Place

When Georgia man Daniel Ashley Pierce came out as gay to his parents, the result was downright heartbreaking. His religious family not only denounced his sexual orientation, but also turned violent, eventually disowning him altogether. It was surely a devastating moment for Pierce, but the 20-year-old man (sadly) seemed to have seen it coming and decided to secretly film his relatives' reaction in a five-minute video, which depicts the entire horrible confrontation going down.

In the clip, you can hear Pierce explaining that his sexual orientation isn’t a choice and his mother responding, “You will need to move out and find whenever you can to live. Because I will not let anyone believe that I condone what you want to do.” The video entitled, “How not to react when your child tells you that he's gay,” was uploaded to YouTube, where it quickly went viral and garnered almost two million views in two days.

The clip sparked a flood of support from strangers all over the world, who applauded Pierce’s courage. Even more amazingly? Over 2,000 people donated money to help the young man start a new life after Pierce’s boyfriend set up a crowd funding site on his behalf. The site was originally set to raise only around $2,000. It has since garnered over $57,000 in donations. “I wish I could give each and everyone of you a huge hug. I was trying to respond to everyone but I couldn't keep up. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” Pierce responded on the page.

No one deserves to be treated the way Pierce was by his own family, and while nothing can make his parents’ reaction any less hurtful, it’s heartwarming to see so many complete strangers reach out and offer their support, both emotionally and financially. It just goes to show the Internet is capable of doing real good. Hopefully, Pierce will be able to use what he’s raised to move on and live his life in whichever way will make him happy.

See the video that started it all below. Warning: It's graphic and highly disturbing.

Image: Daniel Pierce/Facebook