A gay valedictorian who was kicked out of his home has now raised over $110,000 to pay for tuition costs.
Seth Owen of Jacksonville, Fla., finished high school with a 4.16 grade point average and became co-valedictorian of his class despite spending a third of his senior year homeless after his parents forced him to choose between attending an antigay church and going through "ex-gay" counseling or moving out. His parents refused to contribute to his college tuition, which left Owen with $20,000 to pay out of pocket.
"I was just devastated once again," Owen told NBC News.
Prior to his moving out, Georgetown University determined Owen’s aid packet under the assumption that his parents would contribute to tuition payments. Owen had appealed to the university to have his financial aid package adjusted, to no avail.
Owen’s biology teacher, Jane Martin, set up a GoFundMe page to help raise funds for his college expenses.
"Seth was just a kid that really stood out to me," Martin told NBC News. "He was super ambitious and was always trying to go above and beyond to make sure he could be as successful as possible."
If Owen’s financial aid package is readjusted, then Martin and Owen plan to use the money they raised to establish scholarships for other LGBT teens, NBC News reports.
