The out gay male cheerleader at Wilcox High School in Santa Clara, Calif who allegedly came under verbal attack last week for joining the cheer squad has issued a statement on Twitter. We are not naming, tagging or otherwise identifying the boy because he is a minor and to protect him from online haters, given that he is already a target at his school.

This 14-year-old kept cheering at a pep rally and at last Friday night’s game even as football players from his own school allegedly chanted slurs at him, called him a fag, and reportedly physically threatened him and a female cheerleader. The other members of the cheer squad staged a protest at that game, refusing to hold up banners for the players to run through and enter the field. School administrators and local police are investigating, and a petition condemning the harassment now has more than 63-hundred signatures.

Here is his statement, from a thread on Twitter posted on October 19th.

“i am a boy and i am on the cheer team. i understand that people might think that’s different but when it comes down to it nobody deserves to be talked about in a negative way at all. it doesn’t matter your sexual orientation, your gender, your religion, your race or anything else “everyone should be treated equally and it hurts my heart that people on the football team that are almost fully grown and are talking about me and my teammates and bashing us for no reason other than me being gay and a freshman and my friends sticking up for me. “THEN saying that nobody was talking bad about us or anything during the rally the people behind you heard everything you said and know your jersey number. i had nothing but respect for every single person on that team and everyone else i had no negative opinions on anyone. “i mind my business everyday when i get to school and i never wanted anything bad to happen to myself, anyone that i care about, and everyone else otherwise. thank you to everyone that is doing what they can to help me and my teammates, and everyone that is checking up on me.”

You can read the cheerleader’s full story by clicking here.