Gay Teen Fights Back Against Homophobic Classmate And Is Hailed A Hero On Twitter

A gay teen has been praised online after standing up to homophobic bullies in his classroom.

Video of the incident showed Jordan Steffy striking and shouting at another student who had been bullying him and posting homophobic content targeting Steffy online. The fight was soon broken up by a teacher, but the video footage soon went viral online, being watched by well over 11 million people.

Speaking to Insider, Steffy said of the incident:

"I walked up to him and said 'Why did you post this?' He said 'It was just a post.' And I said 'Well, it's not just a post. It's a post about me, saying how you dislike who I am, and I don't appreciate that.' He went on to say 'Okay, but what are you going to do about it?' I said 'I'm not going to deal with this, this is the last time I'm called anything.' And then he said 'What are you going to do about it, faggot?' And that's when I was like 'No, I'm not doing this.'"

Steffy says that that the bullying and homophobic slurs had been going on for a lengthy period of time and that he eventually snapped.

In the video, the boy can be heard calling Steffy a 'f*ggot' and pushing right up to his face before Steffy hit him. The boy did not appear to be seriously injured.

Y’all ever wonder what’s going on at your old high school too? pic.twitter.com/FiCZw8y6ir

— Tyler Konopacki (@Konopaco) November 7, 2019

Jordan steffy fight video lphs pic.twitter.com/ixRTfeUOvR

— Demarco (@Demarco45099342) November 12, 2019

Both boys were suspended following the incident, though many have said that Steffy should not have been punished for standing up for himself after such long-standing bullying.

Steffy's mother, Angelina, has said she will for the time being home-school the teen. She also said that school authorities had done absolutely nothing to combat the bullying. She told reporters:

"I was tired of him being bullied, and he was tired of being bullied. It seemed like I was getting in more trouble for reporting it than I was if I didn't say anything at all. It was doing me more harm than it was good."

Melanie Willingham-Jaggers, deputy executive director of GLSEN, an LGBTQ rights organisation, said that while they don't condone violence no-one should be persecuted for standing up for themselves. She said:

"While we don't condone violence, it reflects the trauma that LGBTQ youth have endured and the fact that they feel they need to fend for themselves in school. Jordan deserves better. All students deserve better."

[h/t: Higher Perspective]