Gay Florida teen kicked out of home lands internship with Dem congresswoman

The gay Florida teen who received national attention last year after his parents kicked him out of his home and left him without enough money to attend Georgetown recently landed an internship at Rep. Stephanie Murphy’s (D-Fla.) office and is prospering at the university.

Murphy’s office told The Hill on Saturday the congresswoman had contacted Georgetown to offer her support and an internship for Seth Owen after hearing about his story. 

“I am proud that Seth chose to be a part of our team,” Murphy said in a statement to The Hill. “He will always be welcomed here, and I’m am happy to see him thrive. Our entire office is rooting for his continued success.” 

{mosads}Owen began interning at the congresswoman’s office in January and will be working with the office for the remainder of his spring semester.

Owen told the Orlando Sentinel Friday that he has also started a scholarship designed to help “students in marginalized communities access post-secondary education.” He said he used a $25,000 donation he received from Ellen DeGeneres last year to start the initiative, which will be provided by his Unbroken Horizons Scholarship Foundation.

The Florida teen first came in to prominence last summer after one of his teachers set up a fundraising page to raise money for his first year’s tuition at Georgetown.

His story picked up traction on social media at the time after he revealed that his parents kicked him out of the house because he wouldn’t attend their church over teachings and rhetoric he said were anti-LGBTQ.

It wasn’t long after his story went public, however, that Owen, who was the valedictorian at his high school, was a full-ride scholarship to attend Georgetown last fall.

Owen thanked his supporters in the interview with the local paper for their “incredible generosity to help me achieve my dream of getting to college. Each and every day, I am humbled by the opportunities I find in our nation’s capital.”

He is also seeking for more donations to his nonprofit foundation and is urging other students to apply for his scholarship.