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The Internet May Have Rescued a Teen Girl From a Gay Conversion Camp

June 09, 2016

  • Jezebel reports that the extended family of a high school student named Sarah is stepping in to save her from a gay conversion therapy camp she was forced into attending by her parents. You read that right: somehow, in 2016, “conversion therapy” is still a thing. Joey Jordan, Sarah’s cousin, started a GoFundMe to pay for her legal expenses as she tries to extricate herself from the camp, and, if necessary, from her parents. The story gained publicity when another one of Sarah’s cousins, Jeremy Jordan (Broadway actor and star of CBS’s Supergirl), tweeted about the matter:

  •   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  “>  

  • As of this writing, the GoFundMe has raised over $60,000. After this video was recorded, the people behind the GoFundMe announced in an update that Sarah has been released from the facility. Here’s an excerpt from the family’s statement: We have an important update. We have just been informed that Sarah has been released from the facility. We don’t know the details, but we believe that this page, and the willingness of you all to share Sarah’s story had a great deal to do with this… [We] are not requesting additional donations at this time… [We] will use all of the money that you so generously contributed to pay accrued legal bills for our lawyer and Sarah’s. If there are any funds left over, they will be placed in a trust for Sarah to help her with life’s next steps so that she can attend college and lead a normal life being who she is and loving whom she chooses. In other words, WE DID IT, INTERNET! Okay, we don’t actually know the reason why Sarah was released from the camp. But all this scrutiny could have well contributed to her release. Here’s hoping Sarah leads a happy life from now on. What do you think? Should gay conversion therapy be wiped out, or do you honestly believe people choose to be part of a persecuted minority? Let us know in the comments below or @WhatsTrending on Twitter!