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'Save Sarah!': Supergirl star makes public plea to free his cousin, 17, from controversial 'pray the gay away' camp after she was locked up there by 'her parents because she took a girl to prom'

• Jeremy Jordan, star of TV and Broadway, says his cousin Sarah was forced into a religious boarding facility by her parents

• Jordan is publicizing her plight on a GoFundMe page, which says that the Christian facility is teaching her that homosexuality is 'a sin and abnormal'

• Sarah, 17, was apparently whisked off to the state-licensed residential facility called Heartlight Ministries after attending prom with her girlfriend

• Legally, she will have to stay there for a YEAR until she's 18, says the page

A teen is allegedly being held against her will at a 'pray away the gay' religious facility in Texas and her famous cousin is trying to free her.

Jeremy Jordan, who stars in CBS's 'Supergirl,' has started a social media campaign to bring attention to his cousin Sarah, 17, who he says was forced by her parents into to go to a Christian boarding facility in a remote, rural area outside of Austin after she brought her girlfriend to prom.

It's unclear when she was sent there, but proms are usually held in warmer months before school closes for the summer.

'My amazing friends & fans, PLEASE help us save my sweet gay cousin Sarah who’s trapped at a boarding facility in TX,' Jordan tweeted on June 4.

The Supergirl actor, who plays Winn Schott on the CBS show, further added on Facebook: 'I can't believe beautiful, smart, incredible kids like my cousin Sarah are still being told that being gay is wrong. But it's worse than that for Sarah... She's been placed at a remote boarding facility to help "pray away the gay" for a year with no communication to the outside world.

'She may not be able to see it now, but please show her how much she matters and take a stand to help us free this wonderful young woman and welcome her back to a world of love and acceptance.'

In another post he adds: 'My cousin Sarah, like any other teenager, loves a shameless selfie... Its just sometimes hers includes another girl... You can't see it, but the caption of the photo on the left reads "Merry Christmas from two kids in love." It BREAKS MY HEART this sweet young girl who's only "issue" is loving another girl has been sent to a facility for "troubled teens." News flash, folks, there's nothing wrong with her.'

Sarah is at a state-licensed residential facility called Heartlight Ministries.

Julie Moody, a spokeswoman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, told the New York Daily News that she could not discuss whether the agency is investigating the situation but confirmed that the girl was at the facility.

According to the facility's website it says: 'For 25 years, we’ve provided a safe haven for positive change. Our residential setting offers struggling teens an atmosphere to develop healthier patterns during the most troubling times.'

It adds that it serves 56 kids, on 150 acres, with more than 40 staff members.

According to the GoFundMe page, Sarah's parents sent her to the camp after she and her girlfriend went to prom together. The page describes it as 'Bible-based therapy' for her 'disease'.

'Sarah’s parents, who believe that homosexuality is a sin and abnormal, sent Sarah away against her will to an East Texas Christian boarding facility for troubled teens to “pray away the gay,'' says the GoFundMe page which aims to raise funds for Sarah's legal expenses.

The page has raised over $48,000 in four days, almost half of its $100,000 goal. The page says that legal bills have already totaled $20,000. Anything left over will go to Sarah's college fund.

Christine Andresen, a lawyer who specializes in LGBT issues has been hired to try to free Sarah.

The New York daily News also reported that Andresen said: 'I can't comment on pending litigation, other than to authenticate that to the best of my knowledge, the background information on the GoFundMe shared by Sarah's cousin is truthful.'

In Texas, a teen who is not yet 18 can be remanded to a residential boarding facility against their will, says the page's administrator, Joey Jordan, also a cousin of Sarah's.

The page also says that Sarah tried to escape but was brought back to the facility and 'punished' and that friends tried to rescue her but were threatened with arrest by local police.

Sarah is described as an excellent student who was at the top ten percent of her class, on the debate team, and in the National Honor Society, and had been applying to colleges.

Her parents swooped in and bundled her off to the 'pray away the gay' camp. The GoFundMe page describes it as 'Bible-based therapy' for her 'disease'.

Sarah, whose surname was not immediately clear, is described as being cut off from her friends and family with no email, phone, or visitors allowed.

'Not only does this type of 'therapy' not work, mental health professionals from organizations like the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have found it to be psychologically damaging, especially for minors,' the page administrator and Jeremy's cousin, Joey Jordan, wrote.

An Islamic cleric who defends domestic violence is among a string of extremist speakers touring British universities unchallenged, the Mail Investigations Unit can reveal.

Egyptian cleric Fadel Soliman spoke at five such events last year, using them to refer Muslim students to an online lecture series in which he speaks in favour of hitting women and outlines the Islamic case for sex slavery and polygamy.

Mr Soliman told students at Sheffield University that watching his lectures could be ‘a turning point’ in their lives.

In his extraordinary videos, he advises physical punishment for wives who have displeased their husbands, saying ‘the hitting must be done with a small stick’.

"The true implication of the spanking is to sound an alarm that the husband has passed to a new stage of serious displeasure."
Egyptian cleric Fadel Soliman

Explaining why it is necessary, he says that when a husband is unhappy with the behaviour of his wife, ‘after passing through two stages of non-physical interaction, the next stage must involve something physical, in order to escalate the intensity of the warning’.

The preacher is one of several extremists being permitted to espouse their views unchallenged at Britain’s universities – in a possible breach of the Government’s counter-extremism strategy, Prevent. Since September, universities and colleges are legally required to have policies to stop extremists radicalising students on campus. This includes an obligation to ‘ensure those espousing extremist views do not go unchallenged’.

The Mail revealed yesterday how CAGE – the notorious organisation which called Islamic State killer Jihadi John ‘a beautiful young man’ – has participated in at least 13 university events since September, calling on students to sabotage Prevent.

Another group, MEND, an Islamist organisation whose director has condoned the killing of British troops, appeared in at least ten events on campuses across the country last term.

And a speaker from an organisation which mocked last year’s Charlie Hebdo terror attack in Paris spoke at a student event despite having being refused permission, using the platform to tell students the State was ‘fundamentally racist’ and they should oppose Prevent.

Home Secretary Theresa May said the revelations show universities need to do more to stop ‘damaging, extremist rhetoric’ going unchallenged on campuses.
Up to 19 universities where the Mail identified extremist-linked speakers or events could now face an inquiry by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, it is understood.

Lord Carlile, one of Britain’s top legal experts, said last night that universities that allowed Mr Soliman to speak unchallenged had ‘failed in their duty of care’. He said: ‘This is a person who has given at least tacit approval to what sounds like criminal behaviour. Universities really should not be permitting people like this on to their campuses.

Mr Soliman is thought to have spoken at Nottingham, Leicester, Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield universities. He urged young Muslims to watch his disturbing 30-part video series endorsing violent and extreme practices.

In one, he suggests it is acceptable for a man to hit his wife, if she repeatedly ‘goes out and refuses to say where she’s going’. He says: ‘The hitting must be done with a small stick’ and ‘should not be painful’, adding: ‘The true implication of the spanking is to sound an alarm that the husband has passed to a new stage of serious displeasure.’

In another video he says it is forbidden for men and women to ‘engage in frivolous talk’, that ‘men and women should lower their gaze and avoid unnecessary eye contact, especially with lust’. He says Muslims should avoid interacting with members of the opposite sex, even at work, and women should not wear perfume as it ‘arouses men’. In other videos, he outlines the Islamic case for sex slavery and polygamy.

At an event at the University of Sheffield on December 3, Mr Soliman urged 120 Muslim students: ‘Put these videos on your Facebook pages, share it with people.’ He was also allowed to speak at the University of Manchester last month, despite concerns being raised by university staff. At the event, the cleric said: ‘They told me not to say anything controversial.’

Mr Soliman denies he supports domestic violence. He said: ‘I have provided the Mail with a detailed response to the allegations which are published in this article and informed them in detail why I am not guilty of the things which they allege against me. Once the paper is published, I will respond to the allegations on my own website.’

He has a strong following among young female students. The Sheffield event – which was not formally segregated but at which men and women sat on opposite sides of the hall – had an audience of more than 100 students, mostly female.

Beforehand, groups of young women could be heard discussing how much they ‘love’ Mr Soliman – even making swooning gestures and fanning themselves. One woman in her early 20s, who travelled from London, told others how excited she was to see the cleric in person.

"It’s within their interest to fuel Islamophobia. It’s within their interest to sell more weapons. It’s within their interest to make the Middle East unstable."
Speaker Sahar Al Faifi