11 inspiring stories of LGBTQ teenagers that have moved the internet

In November 2019, Jordan Steffy, a junior at LaPorte High School in Indiana, said a fellow classmate posted a homophobic message about him on Snapchat. When Steffy confronted the other student, the student called him a homophobic slur. In response, Steffy — who came out in middle school and said he has endured bullying ever since — started to punch and hit the student.

"I just got sick of it," Steffy told Insider reporter Talia Lakrtiz. "It's crazy the amount of hatred I received just for liking who I like and being me."

The incident was caught on video and posted to Twitter. The video garnered over 3.9 million views, making Stefffy a hero.

"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."

When Dynasia Clark showed up to her high school graduation at Lamar High School in Darlington County, South Carolina, in June 2020, she was wearing pants, a button-down shirt, and a bowtie. She was about to take her seat at the ceremony when an administrator pulled her aside and told her she had to change into a dress or she wouldn't be allowed at the ceremony.

Clark, who is openly gay, decided to leave the ceremony instead of giving in to the rules. She stood outside the school to support her friends, but her name was taken off the roster.

"That was the part that made me more mad than anything, because I was there. You could have least called my name," Clark told WPDE. "It seems crazy to me. It seems stupid, like petty, because it was just an outfit to me."

The school administration sent out a release to WPDE, saying, "The Lamar High School dress code for graduation has been in place for more than 20 years. We welcome students or parents who have concerns with any policy or procedure to meet with administration and discuss those concerns."

But Dr. Tim Newman, the superintendent of the school district, told WPDE the school's dress code is "extremely regrettable, and this circumstance has led to significant change throughout the Darlington County School District."

He also said the district had reached out to Clark to apologize and tell her that "her actions have led to positive change districtwide," WPDE reported.

In June 2019, Jace Taylor was excited about his summer job at The Firs Camps & Retreats, the camp he went to as a child. But on his first day, the camp director called him into the office and fired him because of his sexuality.

"He told me that I was terminated because of my sexual orientation and that they can't have someone that identifies as gay in a leadership position," Taylor told Insider.

After getting emotional about the news, Taylor decided to take to social media to talk about his experience. He told Insider that he wants people to use his story as an example and to do better for people like him.

"I'm not the only person in the world that this is happening to," he said. "I'm just fortunate enough that someone picked up my story and others are continuing to pick up my story and share it. I want this this to be a beacon for the LGBTQ community that people are recognizing that this is not OK and that things need to change."

In a statement released to the Bellingham Herald, the camp's executive director stood by the decision, saying, in part, "In order to be consistent to our beliefs and our mission we felt compelled to pass on someone we truly liked for this counselor role."

After hearing the story, some community members pulled their children out of the camp's summer programs.

Seth Owen was a model high school student, who earned a 4.61 GPA, participated in honor societies, took AP classes, and became valedictorian. But at home, his religious parents found out that he was gay and told him to move out.

When he applied to his dream school, Georgetown University, the school gave him a financial aid package that was based on his parents' income even though he was not living with them. He attempted to petition the package, explaining he has no contact with his family, but the school wouldn't budge.

Owen's teachers stepped in and started a GoFundMe page to raise money for Owen's tuition. The goal was to raise $20,000 but Owen's inspiring story prompted people to donate $50,000.

Owen said he is thankful for his teachers' support and would tell his younger self to remain strong.

"I would tell that sophomore kid to hold their head high, roll their shoulders back and be exactly who they are," Owen told NBC News. "It's difficult to be who you genuinely are when you have all this pressure around you from all these different people in your life, but if you become comfortable with who you are, you're that much more equipped to face these difficult times."

In October 2019, 19-year-old Keagan Roberts decided he wanted to make changes to his hometown of South Berwick, Maine. To do so, he knew he had to be elected as a council member, but he missed the deadline for his name to appear on the ballot. That didn't deter him, however. He knocked on 200 doors to get his name out there and stood outside city hall on voting day to make sure people would write his name in on the ballot.

It worked, and Roberts was elected to the city council and became one of the youngest openly gay elected officials in the country.

"I was shocked," Roberts told MTV News. "I didn't realize that I had that much of an impact on people. The voter turnout just for write-ins — I was honestly just amazed at the dedication [and] the desire that people had for change and for a younger voice to be represented."

He also told the publication that he will focus on traffic laws, clean energy, and marijuana issues while on the council.

In 2014, Benton Sorensen came out to his college class during a presentation on the idea of "inspiration." In the moving presentation, he teaches his classmates about what it means to be transgender and why he felt the need to transition when going through puberty.

"If I hadn't been honest with myself when I did, I wouldn't be here today to experience things like this," he said in his speech.

The video has garnered almost 2.5 million views.

In 2015, Tom Sosnik was 13 years old and gave a moving speech in front of his classmates. He started the speech by talking about Leelah Alcorn, a 17-year-old trans girl who took her own life because her family would not accept her.

"For a while, I dismissed the fact that I hated my body," Sosnik said. "I pretended to be content with what I was assigned until at a certain point, I broke."

Sosnik then said he understands it may be difficult for some to accept his transition, but that he hopes they would treat him with the respect he deserves.

"Thank you for all making me feel safe enough for openly being myself," he said at the end of speech before wiping away a few tears.

His speech now has well over 150,000 views on YouTube.

When 14-year-old Gia Fisher came out to her parents and they accepted her, they gave her two options: transfer to a new middle school after her transition or to stay at her current one.

"I figured, I've already been hiding for 13 years, and I feel like if I transitioned at a new school, I would just keep another secret," Fisher told People. "I didn't want to stay in hiding, so I decided to transition at my old school so everyone can see who I really am."

She started by writing an open letter to her classmates and teachers, explaining that she will now be coming to school in girl's clothing and living as a female. To her and her family's surprise, the community was extremely supportive of Gia. Luchina Fisher, Gia's mother, wrote an essay on GoodMorningAmerica.com that explained her daughter's coming out story.

"We were blown away by how seamless the transition was. A week later our house was filled with 12 boisterous teenage girls for Gia's 13th birthday party," Fisher wrote in the essay. "The co-ed cross country team she'd run for since fifth grade welcomed her back with open arms and made her captain of the girls' team, which she helped lead to one of their best seasons while making all-conference and all-state. Gia has always been an A-student but now her teachers were saying how happy she seemed in class."

In 2015, Evan Young was named the valedictorian at Twin Peaks Charter Academy High School, and he decided his speech at graduation would be the perfect time to come out to his classmates and family. When the school's principal found out, however, the administration told Young he had to take that part out to "protect the mission of the school." Young refused the administration, so he was stripped of his title as valedictorian.

A lawyer for the school denied the speech was blocked because Young was going to come out as gay, but because he "didn't communicate with school administrators and his parents and used inappropriate humor in it," the Coloradoan reported.

An LGBTQ advocacy group named Out Boulder jumped in and offered Young a safe space to give his valedictorian speech. In an intimate ceremony, Young came out the way he wanted to.

Alexander Duarte, an openly gay high schooler, has been friends with Erick Pineda, the football captain, for three years. Despite the fact that Pineda is straight, Duarte decided to ask him to homecoming in the style of a "promposal." Duarte wrote on a large poster, "I know I'm gay, but can I take you straight to homecoming?" and hid behind it. In the video, Duarte comes out from behind the poster just as Pineda says yes.

"For me, it was also about setting an example for others on how to go all out on their proposals and, more importantly, that it is OK for a brown boy to ask another dude," Duarte said.

Pineda said he hopes he is setting an example for other straight men out there.

"It's very important for me to be going to homecoming with Alexander because I'm setting an example for not only my school, but also my community," Pineda told Instinct. "I was definitely excited to be asked to homecoming because I knew how important this was for my friend and seeing the support from the staff and students was amazing."

Craig Cassey (not pictured) was a track star at Penncrest High School in Pennsylvania, but the teen was still surprised to be elected prom king in 2011. Cassey is openly gay and decided to go to prom without his boyfriend, so when his name was called on prom night, he was shocked.

"Winning prom king amongst a crew of seven potential male candidates shows that my school is not only tolerant of openly gay students but is accepting," Cassey wrote on his blog. "My good friend Molly won with me and we slow danced to cheers from all sides, congratulating us and urging us to kiss. Don't worry, we didn't. There were no shouts of 'Homo,' no negative remarks, just congratulations and 'bro hugs' and pats on the back – truly a testament to my school's consistently improving climate."

The following day, Cassey and his boyfriend had their own prom where they got to celebrate the crowning.

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