Update: This post has generated fairly significant traffic. It’s worth noting, as several people have in the comments section, that Mr. Pearce (from whom I have not yet heard back) has used similar stock photos in the past – so it is likely that he added the photo, rather than it having come from the ostensible mother.
A post by Dan Pearce titled “A Teen’s Brave Response to ‘I’m Christian, Unless You’re Gay’” has gone viral on social networks in the past day. But something about it doesn’t sit right.
Most of the post is a reproduction of an email from a mother who details a heartbreaking course of events during which her teenage son came out as gay in spite of her hostility toward homosexuality. The mother describes how her son wrote an essay in response to a previous blog by Mr. Pearce, and how she eventually came to accept his sexual orientation.
As compelling as the message of the email may be, it doesn’t read quite right – sort of like a cross between a Sarah Palin transcription and the Hallmark Channel. Of course, I’m sure there are people who write like that, so that’s not much of a criticism. But something else is much more suspicious.
Accompanying the post was a photograph of a smiling young man. I did a TinEye reverse image search on the image and found that it was a stock photo from 123RF.com, originally snapped by Danish photographer Yuri Arcurs, which has actually been used commercially on several occasions.
Here’s another photo featuring the same model. And another. Here he is on the website for an orthodontist, and again on a tutoring service.
Unless the purported brave teen moonlights as a model in Denmark, I doubt that’s him in the photo.
That the image is a stock photo casts some doubt on the veracity of the email, but it doesn’t necessarily mean the story was fabricated. It’s a long shot that a real mother would have attached the photo to a real email, but it is conceivable that for difficult-to-imagine reasons Mr. Pearce may have added it himself.
I emailed Mr. Pearce asking for clarification, and will post his response here.
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I actually found the writing to be much more suspect than the photo.
From the start, I assumed the image was a stock photo because the quality is very good, the kid looks like a model, and Mr. Pearce seems to use similar types of stock photos for many of his posts. It makes sense too; when people re-post it on sites like Facebook, the image will show up along with the link making others more likely to see it (and click on it). Since it is very unlikely that the mother would have sent a photo of her son, I don’t think it’s difficult at all to imagine that Mr. Pearce would choose such an image for the post to increase it’s visibility.
What I would be more interested in hearing is his thoughts on the authenticity of the response itself. To me, the writing abilities of the son seemed far below where they should be for a 15 year old. Perhaps my memories of my abilities at that age are skewed, but I believe I was held to a higher standard than that. It also seemed very informal for a class writing. Perhaps this version was meant solely for his mother and it would be revised prior to submitting to his teacher. Perhaps he just didn’t care because what he was doing now was bigger than the assignment itself. Something about it, though, just didn’t seem authentic.
Also, the fact that a high school teacher would assign such a task seems unlikely as well, although I can see it happening. However, it’s even harder to believe that it would happen in a town that has a negative predisposition towards gay people in general. The teacher must have known some backlash would come. I can’t imagine that this mother would be the only parent in a town like that to react in the way that she did.
And lastly, for some reason I can’t put into words, the whole thing just seems fake. Maybe too good to be true? Or maybe as you pointed out, sort of like a cross between Sarah Palin and Hallmark.
Anyways, if you do follow up on this, it would be nice to see any discussion about the authenticity of the mother’s response itself (not just the source of the photo). My first instinct was to think it was fake and coming across the title of your post here has made me even more curious to it’s authenticity.
You’re right, it just sounds fishy. But, like the photos, at the end of the day that’s pure speculation. I’ll be interested in whether Mr. Pearce follows up at all with the author.
The stock photo is from the original post on Pearce’s website. There are pictures of smiling teenagers. That should have taken you about 15 seconds to figure out. Less time than it took you to write a post about it “not sitting right.”
But congratulations, I am sure it was exciting tracking down the stock photo from Denmark.
I’m not sure that’s factually correct. Where on the original post do you see that photo?
It’s a stock photo, FROM THE ORIGINAL PEARCE POST. You need to be a hungrier reporter.
I meant to say “like the rest of the stock photos from the original post”
If you look through all of his posts regarding this “I’m christian unless you’re gay” topic, they are all obviously stock photos. I doubt anyone would send in pictures of themselves, especially professionally taken ones.
I love the stories, but the skeptic in me wonders if they are all real as well. But I don’t think this whole “stock photo” thing is proof or anything close to that
Definitely not proof. But worth looking into. I’m looking forward to hearing back from Mr. Pearce.
If you lived in a homophobic small town, would you want them to use your real face? I wouldn’t.
As I already said, it would be quite bizarre if the mother had sent a stock photo. Given what other posters have noted – that Pearce has used unrelated stock photos before – I’d say it was probably his addition.
Which would itself be pretty strange.
Mr. Pearce, the mother, and the son all write so similarly that I don’t see how the letter can be real.
I don’t think it’s real, either. I can smell a hoax a mile away, and this one reeks of “fake.”
I find it interesting that we need to make up such stories about things like this. It is pretty relevant on the societal level – we are just so desperate for a “beautiful story” that we make up “coming out fairy tales.” We moved from “The Brother’s Grimm” type stories, which were unfortunately very real (suicides and people who continued their cruelty after their peers died) & turned them into fairy tales. This definitely needs to be spoken about.
Interesting, Rachel. Of course, neither narrativization of real events and trends nor fiction that speaks to real issues are new phenomena.
We’ve always relied on narratives and stories to teach us lessons that our so-called “rational” mind is unable to embrace. We are rooted, not only in our own experience, but in our belief that that experience is definitive. Narratives help us reach a level of empathy that we’re otherwise inhibited from. I think that this story is fiction. But what would happen to it if it were openly advertised as fiction? Would it be as effective? Would it be as far reaching? I have issues with misrepresentation- but I can’t see how it would be as effective without. Another irksome, unsolvable paradox of life.
What happened to “New cure discovered for terrible disease” or “Local cop survives gunfight”? What happened to the stories that actually MATTER? People if some kid saying he’s a homosexual is the kind of thing that goes viral nowadays; do you not SEE the detour sign? The world just had to invent one more little insignificant problem to distract you from problems that actually deserve attention! Who’s educating themselves on the verge of nuclear war? Who’s actually paying attention to who they vote for as president? Who in the world is really looking into this stupid “pseudo-war” America has pulled itself into? Who’s even trying to deal with the small things, like working towards NOT being on a government check every month, or helping an old lady with her bags, or just trying to be a good friend and not think about themselves? Who’s trying to solve a problem that DOESN’T involve removing what makes us human? Because that’s what it will take to solve these “problems”, giving up your humanity; people fight, people disagree, more importantly, people are individuals. Nobody can change that; you can’t please EVERYONE. Millions, however, dig into crap like this and call it a “big deal” and rally under it like a battle cry. A teen kills his/herself because of low self-esteem and its a tragedy, millions die everyday from curable diseases and careless drivers and you know what THEY are? A statistic. Worry about something that matters. YOLO
Those things are definitely covered too. Occam’s razor suggests you’re just homophobic.
And fools will take counsel from fools.
I was skeptical about it too. I thought the mother seemed way to aware of her own hostility, then made way too fast of a change.
Exactly.
I’m sure you are right. Just can’t be real for so many reasons. But a nice story, ironically. Though I have heard similar very heartwarming stories straight from the one that experienced it.
Well we have to make sure the readers think of this boy as cute, skinny and white otherwise they might not sympathize with him!
Proof of fraud or not, the original Pearce article is so profoundly naive about the nature of Abrahamic religion and especially Christianity that I couldn’t help but laugh out loud towards the end. The Christian idea of “love” is that when you “love” someone you seek to help them lead a Christian life and avoid “sin.” It stands to reason that if you love someone who has a drinking problem, you will try to help them get sober. Christians don’t see homosexuality as any different than alcoholism, drug addiction or any other DISEASE. Their idea of “love” is helping “sodomites” live a life free of “sin,” perhaps so they can repress their true nature and end up like Ted Haggard or Larry Craig.
And yes I can already hear people with bellowing their platitudes about “not all Christians” and “bible subject to interpretation” but it goes far, far beyond interpretation. To be a Christian and not profoundly backwards means to ignore massive swathes of the Bible. Which is fine with me, just don’t tell me that Christianity is about “love.” It’s about avoiding eternal damnation in a fiery hell pit. And this brings me to Islam, which I found most amusing of all. Unlike the developed “Christian world” (or what’s left of it) the Islamic world takes their holy book seriously, which is why they are stuck in the Dark Ages, execute homosexuals (with the intense jealousy of Christian Republicans in the USA) and treat women like cattle.
Hey — Actually wrote about this today in The Daily Beast: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/04/06/what-s-the-truth-behind-the-viral-post-about-a-gay-christian-teen.html
Figured I’d leave a comment since I’m a former associate editor at Campus Progress. I think your skepticism here was well-founded.
Excellent work, Jesse! Thanks for sharing.
Dan Pierce has since updated his column to state that it is a stock photo.