When this teacher received a homophobic text message from a parent he responded in the most incredible way

It's a sad fact of life that even today, in 2018, many members of the LGBT+ community still face bigotry and homophobia.

Recent research by LGBT+ charity Stonewall shows that the statistics are shockingly high. One in five LGBT+ people will have faced a hate crime or incident because of their sexual orientation in the last 12 months. Further, two in five trans people will have experienced a hate crime because of their gender identity in the last 12 months.

However, the LGBT+ community are continually fighting back and making progress, and this teacher's response to a homophobic text message is just one brilliant example.

Performing arts teacher Michael Neri from London got the shock of his life when he received a homophobic text message from a parent of one of the children in his class.

In the text message, the parent said that they wanted to remove their child from his class because of his 'lifestyle' choices because of their Christian beliefs:

I have recently learned of your lifestyle and as a Christian I cannot allow my children to be influenced by your unconventional ideas. 

It is our belief that a man should marry a woman. 

I look forward to receiving my deposit which you may post to me via cheque. 

Taking to Twitter, Michael made the exchange public.

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Michael's response simply couldn't have been better. In a lengthy tweet, he succinctly argues against the bigoted homophobia expressed in the parent's message.

As well as suggesting he thinks that it's unlikely the parent would investigate a doctor's 'lifestyle' before allowing them to operate on their kids, he also wondered how the parent intends on continuing their child's theatrical education without ever encountering a gay person, eloquently quipping:

Theatre without gays is like cooking without spices.

BOOM!

Needless to say, Twitter loved Michael's excellent response in the face of bigotry.

Some expressed their embarrassment at the Christian's bigotry.

Others praised Michael for the calm way he responded.

Some loved the glitter references.

Many praised him for donating the money to Stonewall.

Some called his response 'classy' and 'cheeky'.

But most simply said it was the best possible response.

Michael, we salute you!

HT Bored Panda

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