A student who was the victim of a homophobic attack has been praised for a defiant message he posted after the incident.

Cole Ledford, an undergraduate student at Ohio State University who appears on reality show Extreme Couponing, was attacked on Thursday while with his boyfriend, Jerad.

Despite taking a punch to the face and being left with a black eye, the student posted a defiant rebuttal to Twitter.

To the guy who punched me tonight for kissing my boyfriend pic.twitter.com/SMVmTpDCdL — Cole Ledford (@ColeLedford11) November 7, 2014

He wrote: “To the guy who punched me tonight for kissing my boyfriend,

“I’m sorry that you called me fag. I’m sorry you hit me for no reason.

“I’m sorry that whatever insecurities you have don’t allow you to accept others for who they are. I’m sorry that I threaten you.”

“I’m NOT sorry I’m gay. I’m proud to be this way. I’m proud to be confident enough to love who I love and to love me.

“I’m proud to have friends and family that love me regardless of me. Honestly, I’m not sorry.”

The message has since gone viral, achieving over 25,000 retweets and 50,000 favourites.

Boyfriend wanted to say hi and thanks for the support! Off to Cleveland to see the fam! #loveislove #youallrock pic.twitter.com/O1uZAToqKQ — Cole Ledford (@ColeLedford11) November 7, 2014

He has since posted a followup message alongside his boyfriend, adding: “Love is love.”