On Monday morning (22), Ellen DeGeneres welcomed a very special guest to her TV show: Graeme Taylor, a 14-year-old boy who is openly gay.
"I just want to say that you are a very brave young man, and the world is much better with you in it," began the presenter. The boy became a global celebrity last week, when he appeared in a YouTube video defending one of his former teachers, who was suspended from school.
The case was as follows: a student had a Confederate flag in the classroom, and the teacher asked her to keep it. Another student stood up and said, "Why can gays fly the rainbow flag and she can't fly the Confederate flag?"
An argument ensued, the student started saying homophobic things, and the teacher asked the student to leave the room. Subsequently, the teacher was suspended by the school for some time, during which he will not receive payment.
Graeme Taylor came to the teacher's defense and gave a powerful speech during a conference at the same school, located in the city of Howell, in the US state of Michigan.
In his speech, the boy compared gay persecution to "a silent holocaust", and revealed that he attempted suicide at the age of 9. The video of Graeme's speech is on YouTube (see below) and has already become a sensation. To the point where he ended up on Ellen's couch.
DeGeneres praised the boy's stance and declared: "To have that self-confidence and be openly gay at that age, and feel comfortable with that, is impressive!"
Graeme replied: "It takes time to get comfortable with that, it's not like that", to which Ellen immediately replied: "Yes, I know!", drawing laughter and applause from the audience – since Ellen herself, as a lesbian, knows about what this is about.
"I had a bad time learning to accept myself, but once I did, I realized what a beautiful thing it was," Graeme said, generating more applause. Ellen remains silent in front of the boy, in an emotional moment of the interview.
To conclude, the presenter announces that Tonic – a philanthropic company that "looks for good things that people are doing" – donated a check for 10 thousand dollars to the boy, for his courage and determination.
Check out Graeme Taylor's speech at the school and the interview with Ellen DeGeneres on YouTube.
