The combined power of celebrity and the internet does not often yield heartwarming outcomes, but just days after we learned of Supergirl star Jeremy Jordan’s campaign to bust his teen cousin, Sarah, out of a “pray the gay away” camp, the fates have spoken. And it’s good news!
And like all the best news these days, it arrived via Twitter:
Great news! She’s out! In 5 days, you helped Sarah get released! Details on the GFM page. THANK YOU. #SaveSarah https://t.co/iJK4U4ZwUi
— Jeremy Jordan (@JeremyMJordan) June 9, 2016
Over on the GoFundMe page — set up to pay Sarah’s legal bills and netting $64,252 in just five days — Jordan gave a full update:
“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 don’t yet know what this means for the legal case — we need to consult with our attorney and, when we are able, with Sarah about how or whether to continue. In the interim, we are not requesting additional donations at this time. As we’ve previously stated, if the lawsuit terminates, 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.”
Jordan previously shared that Sarah’s current legal tab clocked in around $20k, and it’s safe to assume she won’t be in need of many more billable hours now that her release is secured. That should leave her with quite the nest egg after all is said and done, or let’s be honest, a head-start on the ensuing therapy bill.
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We hope it helps her get on her feet as far away from the people trying to drag her down as possible.
Jordan went on to express relief, but also acknowledged the other teens in similar situations who don’t have pseudo-famous relatives:
“We are understandably excited by today’s developments, and hopeful for what this means for Sarah’s ability to live her life as her true self. And we are hopeful that one day soon all the other LBGT teens out there who face rejection by their families and attempts to “fix” their sexuality will be accepted for who they are.”
While Sarah no doubt has her work cut out for her to process her experience, with good fortune, an open heart and a strong will, it might one day make quite the dinner party story.
She’ll have to remember to include the part about Grindr helping to spread the word:
Help #SaveSarah from a year of useless, damaging therapy. https://t.co/fb33X4tqJ2
— Grindr (@Grindr) June 7, 2016
Ex-gay conversion therapy has been in the news lately, as more states ban the practice on minors. The practice is already illegal in Vermont, New Jersey, California, Illinois, Oregon, and the District of Columbia as well as Cincinnati, OH.
MacAdvisor
The likely next step, once Sarah has been released, for her to file for emancipation. She is 17 and, thus, still under the control of her parents, but she is close enough to 18, she can be declared a competent adult and severe the control of her parents. That would put her out of the danger their guardianship poses. This is likely to be an expensive legal fight all on its own.
Malcolm Forest
What the hell is wrong with America? They can legally kidnap GLBT people and try to brainwash them with some religious mumbojumbo? Doesn’t the USA have some kind of basic Human Rights act for its citizens? What is the point of all those Americans all the time boasting about their precious constitution if that doesn’t give them any basic Human Rights?
Grow the hell up America, and also try banning guns, how many hundreds or thousands of children are you going to see killed before you decide to get into Gun Control?