Michael Neri, a children’s drama teacher in Birmingham, UK, posted his incredible response to a text he received from one mother who pulled her child out of his class because of his “lifestyle”.

Michael Neri, who runs Talking Props Theatre School, said he was “shocked” to receive the text from the parent, who targeted him for being gay.

“I felt a little bit, I suppose, disheartened by it and that the decision had been made solely on something that wasn’t about my professional capacity to teach.”

“When it comes down to my professionalism and my ability as a teacher, [religion] shouldn’t be an issue,” he said. “Either you believe in my ability to teach and you send your children or you don’t.”

Got a lovely text this week pic.twitter.com/UWPGRycuph

— Michael Neri (@michaelneri) November 16, 2015

After posting the screengrab of the conversation on the internet, the post quickly went viral. “I’ve had messages from teachers in similar situations and it’s been humbling to have that,” he said.

He added that is taking only positives from the experience. “I take a positive from all this, not a negative,” he said. “I’m taking the love and everything that’s coming from it, not the initial text I got from the lady.”