This viral video of a seven-year old girl not backing down from a homophobic hate preacher the day after the Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality is emblematic of the new reality in America.
Zea is seven years old. Holding only a rainbow flag, she chose to stand up to a street preacher spouting anti-gay, homophobic hate on Saturday, just one day after the Supreme Court ruled for marriage equality.Â
“Jesus Saves from Hell” reads a sign held by one street preacher as another tries to “minister” to young Zea, at ComFest in Columbus, Ohio.
Ryan Bowling, Zea’s dad, posted the short clip, below, to YouTube. The video was picked up by Towleroad, Gawker, Raw Story, and others. Since being posted on Monday, the video has been viewed nearly 275,000 times.
Bowling told Raw Story his daughter is “just decent to people because they are people. She treats others fairly, because she wants to be treated fairly. That shouldn’t go viral, it should just be who we are to each other.”
Zea “has a very keen sense of justice about the whole thing,†Bowling added.
“When I told her on Friday,” about the Supreme Court decision, “she said, ‘It’s what I’ve wanted for years. Now, if I did want to marry a girl, we could just be ourselves.'”
Bowling posted the footage online on Monday, saying the unidentified preacher “deflated visibly when he saw her coming,†and that he “was much more sodomy, brimstone, and bellowing until she got close to him.â€
Zea also drew the attention of a local shirt designer, Zachary Traxler, who made her the centerpiece of a t-shirt celebrating the high court’s ruling.
In the video, Zea stands up to the preacher, and gets several high-fives from passersby, who were only too happy to support her.
Watch this brave young girl in a brave new world:
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Image: Screenshot via Ryan Bowling/YouTube
Hat tip:Â Raw Story