Your story about Joel moved me to tears. I am the oldest of a family of five. My younger sisters and I were homeschooled by religious fanatics. We were relentlessly indoctrinated about the "evils" of homosexuality and transgender. While they were doing that, my father was molesting my sisters in secret for 20 years, using his authority as their "pastor" and patriarch to keep what he was doing secret even from me. (I turned him in to the authorities as soon as I found out and he is thankfully serving a life sentence.) While I waited to tell my mother about my bisexuality until long after I'd moved out and established myself, my youngest sister was briefly homeless and fully disowned after coming out to her at the age of 18.

Unfortunately, my story is not at all uncommon. Homeschooling is a festering pool of child abuse and neglect and there is almost no research on what is really happening in these secretive homes to these faceless and voiceless children. I knew other children being abused, raped, and tortured by their homeschooling families. I hope that scandals like the Duggars will shed some light on the practice of homeschooling, which I firmly believe should be absolutely outlawed.

Thank you for sharing Joel's story. I hope that through his courage those of us who suffered and continue to suffer under bigoted, radicalist parents with too many parental rights will see some justice.