This article originally appeared on Outsports

An 18-year-old gay rodeo cowboy from rural Australia has a message for the hate he has received for participating in his sport: “The gay cowboy will never be silenced.”

Josh Goyne, a bullrider from Australia’s Central Coast, has been vilified in online rodeo forums from people trying to stop him from competing in rodeos. The hate has included death threats.

“Today I was asked if I thought it was good that gays died of AIDS, and then the guy said he wished it was 1850 so he could shoot me for being a fag,” Goyne said in a video he posted to Facebook last month.

“Kudos to you mate,” Goyne replied. “You’re a real prick and I hope everything that comes to you is karma.”

Goyne — who alerted police to the threat — has some real balls and used his video to say he will never back down.

“They think they’re gonna silence me but there’s no chance in hell. They think they’re gonna stop me from riding in this week’s rodeo, not a chance in hell. I will proudly stand up to any homophobe and say right to their face that I’m a proud openly gay cowboy. ...

“The fact that I am getting death threats just from going to a rodeo is disgusting and these people are the scum of the Earth. I have zero respect for them and I hope they get their comeuppance. ...

“The gay cowboy will never be silenced. I will forever be an openly gay cowboy. I will happily give a voice to those too scared to speak up.”

Goyne told news.com.au that the response to his video has been “99.9 per cent brilliant,” adding, “I’ve even had straight cowboys say they will help me out at the rodeo and stand with if I have any trouble.”

He lives in rural Australia, which still has a problem with homophobia, so to show that kind of guts and determination at such a young age is awesome.

Goyne is set to come to the U.S. at the end of the month to compete in the “Texas Tradition Rodeo,” sponsored by the Texas Gay Rodeo Assn.

Gay rodeo fans have set up a GoFundMe page to help Goyne with his travel costs. If you have a few extra bucks to support someone out and proud like Goyne, you can contribute here.

Josh Goyne

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