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Indiana teen Jordan Steffy expressed some regret for using physical force against his harasser, but he's getting support for standing up for himself.
Gay teenager Jordan Steffy is getting a lot of support from LGBTQ Twitter after sharing a video of him punching out a boy he described as a homophobic bully.
Steffy, a junior at LaPorte High School in LaPorte, Ind., said the other boy had posted a hateful message about him on Snapchat. "He made an antigay post with a picture of me on it saying how he hated gays and a bunch of throwing-up emojis all over it," Steffy told news website Insider. "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, 'OK, 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.'"
The video, posted to Twitter Friday, shows Steffy telling the other student, whose name was not made public, "Call me a faggot one more fuckin' time, and I'm gonna fuckin' pop yo' ass." Steffy shoved and punched the boy.
Steffy said he's been bullied since he came out in seventh grade. He has reported several incidents to school administrators, but "it seemed like I was getting in more trouble for reporting it than I was if I didn't say anything at all," he told Insider.
He expressed some regret for using physical force. "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." He said on Twitter that he and the other student were suspended, and that Steffy's mother is now planning to homeschool him. School officials did not respond to Insider's requests for comment.
Below, see the video, which has received more than 2 million views, and a sampling of comments from Twitter. Steffy asked commenters to refrain from calling the other boy names, saying that's as bad as the bullying he endured, but he urged others who'd been harassed to stand up for themselves.
\u201c@JordanSteffy1 I'm sorry you had to go there, but I love that you stood your ground. Keep being you! Xoxo\u201d— Miss Coco Peru (@Miss Coco Peru) 1573373183
\u201cLove this. Good for him for standing up for himself. What was wrong with that teacher and the rest of the class? Why did the teacher wait until the last moment to intervene? Good for you Jordan. Be who you are and don't let anyone put you down for being you. \u2764\ufe0f\ud83d\udc4d @JordanSteffy\u201d— Kathleen Boddington (@Kathleen Boddington) 1573412924
\u201cNo one should ever allow themselves to be a victim of anyone\u2019s bullying. #JordanSteffy caught and unleashed the SPIRITS of Bayard Rustin, Harvey Milk, Willie Ninja, Dorian Corey and the many unknown #LGBTQ \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 folks that stick up for themselves. Good for you! \ud83d\udc4a\ud83c\udffe\ud83d\udc4d\ud83c\udffe\ud83d\ude4f\ud83c\udffe\u201d— Brian Barry (@Brian Barry) 1573414250
\u201c"Don't call me a fucking faggot." Young Jordan Steffy swinging the fist that every bullied gay boy aged 11 to 111 dreamt of throwing themselves. I'm gonna quote the youth of today - We stan a King!\u201d— alan h (@alan h) 1573274427
\u201cThis is how every single bullied LGBTQ+ person feels every day at school; most don\u2019t pop the shit out of the asshole who calls them a \u201cfaggot\u201d though (a big regret of mine bc he still goes around dragging everyone else down with him). \n\n\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffb\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffb\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffb #JordanSteffy #Done\u201d— Josh | Progressive \ud83d\udcaa\ud83c\udffc (@Josh | Progressive \ud83d\udcaa\ud83c\udffc) 1573434214
\u201cJordan Steffy (@JordanSteffy1) had been called \u2018faggot\u2019 one time too many and was DONE.\n\nThis time Jordan not only clapped back but slapped back.\n\nhttps://t.co/S7ElQ6mlEh\u201d— GayDemon \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 \ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b (@GayDemon \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 \ud83d\udc99\ud83d\udc9b) 1573409291
