When 12-year-old Brody Neville came out to his friends last Spring most of them stopped being friends with him. He did not want to celebrate his birthday this year thinking that he had no one to celebrate it with. His mom, Leah O’Donnell spoke to CBC News telling them how sad and alone her son felt,
I was asking him what he wanted to do for his birthday and he was in tears and said since he came out as gay he lost all his friends, so he didn’t even have people who could come,”
Like any good mother would, Leah had an idea to make this birthday a special one for her son. She posted on Facebook about Brody and how he was feeling. She had no idea about the type of response she would receive.
As reported by CBC, “dozens of friends, family, strangers — and yes, some drag performers strutting to Born This Way — filled the park near Ranchlands Community Centre on Saturday.”
Drag queen Avanna Kedvra was one of the performers at the surprise birthday party, she herself came out at 19 and also spoke to CBC,
it’s kind of ridiculous that in 2021 a 12-year-old can’t be who they are … it’s a very sad reality in this day and age. “[But] it’s outrageously amazing that this little kid, even with all this adversity, can still be out here and feeling joy.
Steve Gin, a guest at the party, wanted Brody to feel support, telling CBC,
“I guess I put myself back in the shoes of being 12 years old in rural Saskatchewan and went, ‘wow wouldn’t that be great if people came out to support me back then?'”
As for the guest of honor himself, Brody had no idea the celebration was for him thinking everyone was there for the ice cream truck! Once he realized the party was for him, he hugged his mom and told the crowd,
That’s the greatest present of all, support and people in it together with you,
He told all of his new friends,
Thank you everybody for this, this is the best day of my life,”
Check out the video of the party and try not to cry! More stories like this please.
Sources – CBC News
This warms my heart. Could be life changing for this young gay boy.