One would think that in the year of 2020 homophobia is an issue people don’t face any longer, but the sad reality is that no matter how much we try to fight against this prejudice many still choose to discriminate and humiliate those that are perceived ‘different’ by the society.
Jordan Steffy is a gay teen from Indiana and he’s proud of himself, but the thing is that people around him, among which some of his classmates, make fun of him because of his sexual orientation.
This time, this brave boy decided it was the time for him to finally stand for himself and face his bullies. His 25,000 Twitter followers and millions of other people hailed him a hero. Here is his story.
“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,” Jordan said speaking to Insider.
One day, however, one of his classmates shared a homophobic post about him on the social media and Jordan decided he wouldn’t put up with such insults any longer.
“He made an anti-gay post with a picture of me on it saying how he hated gays and a bunch of throwing up emojis all over it.
“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?’” Jordan told Insider.
He continued, “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, fa***t?’ And that’s when I was like ‘No, I’m not doing this.’”
Jordan then slapped the boy right in the face in front of the whole class. “I just got sick of it. It’s crazy the amount of hatred I received just for liking who I like and being me.”
The video of the fight was posted on Twitter and Jordan received thousands of messages of support with one person writing, “Honestly sis, you slapped him for all of us. Keep letting them have it!”
This is the fight 😶 pic.twitter.com/DAsehv9I4m
— Jordan Steffy (@JordanSteffy1) 9 November 2019
Jordan was very thankful for the support he received. “I really can’t believe people actually are around to tell me that it was ok to stick up for myself. I honestly can’t thank people enough for all the support.”
He then added: “I honestly was just looking for an apology, but he acted like it was no big deal and that has been the word to define me since 2nd grade… I don’t fight really… I wanted him and others to know I was done with the constant hating comments that were made towards me constantly.”
However, the school staff decided Jordan should be suspended for what he did. His mom wasn’t happy either so she decided to home-school him.
“If I could take it back, personally, I would,” he said. “But I’m glad I stood up for myself. If you were in my shoes, you’d probably get sick of it and you’d want to stand up for yourself.”
We are truly sad Jordan was punished by the school for defending himself because we believe he had all the right to stand against the bully who hurt his feelings.
As for the bully, we are glad he learned his lesson the hard way.