Actor Jeremy Jordan’s Cousin Released From “Ex-Gay” Ministry

"We still are not sure what the next steps will be but we had a huge victory today."

From: NewNowNext

 Earlier this week, we reported on Supergirl actor Jeremy Jordan’s efforts to have his cousin Sarah removed from an ex-gay ministry in Texas where she was being held against her will and forced to undergo gay conversion therapy. After starting a GoFundMe page to fund his family’s lawsuit against the ministry and rallying loud support on the internet, it seems that she’s finally been set free.

Jordan made the announcement via his Facebook page late last night. In it, he celebrates Sarah’s release and thanks his fans for their help throughout his family’s struggle.

“It’s with absolute delight that I can announce Sarah has been released this afternoon from the boarding facility where she was being held,” the post begins. “We still are not sure what the next steps will be but we had a huge victory today.”

Heartlight Ministries, the Christian East Texas boarding school where Sarah was being held, released a statement on their website in response to the media frenzy surrounding Sarah’s enrollment and later departure from the school.

In it, Mark Gregston, Founder and Executive Director of Heartlight Ministries, refutes allegations that the boarding school implements conversion therapy on its students and laments the misguided removal of Sarah from their program.

“It is disheartening to see that this young woman has had elements of her story made widely public without her consent,” writes Gregston. “The assertion that this teen was held at Heartlight Ministries against her will, or that Heartlight provides any ’treatment’ services for sexual identity, are categorically untrue.”

“Heartlight,” he says, “is a residential counseling program for teenagers who struggle with a wide range of behavioral and emotional issues.”

Last month, Sarah’s aunt filed a lawsuit against her parents to have her removed from the school, stating that she believed Sarah was being held at Heartlight against her will. The lawsuit explicitly alleged that Sarah’s father and a family pastor had openly said that they wanted to change her sexual orientation. Sarah’s mother denies claims that she forced her daughter to attend Heartlight.