Dominic Sheahan-Stahl, a graduate of Sacred Heart Academy in Mount Pleasant, Mich., is speaking out after officials allegedly told his mother he wouldn't be allowed to speak at the high school's graduation because he was gay, Central Michigan Life reports.
"I am still shocked," Sheahan-Stahl says in a video he uploaded to YouTube. "I was laying in bed all last night and there are so many things I want to say, and so many things that I couldn't say. The thing that's sad is that this year is my youngest brother's graduation."
According to Central Michigan Life, Sheahan-Stahl said his speech didn't have anything to do with being gay, but focused mainly on fear.
"My mother was crying on the phone and my brother couldn't even listen to them have to tell me," Sheahan-Stahl said in the video, describing how his family learned of the news.
The Midland Daily News called Sacred Heart Academy for comment, but were told the administration was discussing the issue and "hopes to have a statement by the end of the day."
In his video, Sheahan-Stahl says he was told that one of the reasons he was denied the graduation speech was because he had posted on his Facebook profile that he is gay along with recent engagement photos.
Sheahan-Stahl isn't the only one bothered by the incident. Angie Sweeney Seder, a 1996 SHA graduate, wrote an open letter in support of her fellow alumnus in the Morning Sun:
"Most of the memories I have of SHA make me feel proud to be an alumna of the academy, though revoking an invitation from another alumnus is extremely distressing to me. I value my Catholic religion and education; however, at the same time I do not judge others based on race, gender or sexual orientation.
I believe the teachings of our religion remind us to love all."
Since its creation less than a day ago, the Facebook page "Let Dominic Speak" has received more than 2,000 likes.