When Ashley Stevens Noticed Online Bullies Had Targeted Her Boyfriend, She Took A Stand That Went Viral

Ashley Stevens, a 21-year-old Georgia woman, caught the bouquet at a friend’s wedding, and saw a golden opportunity for a funny photo op since she was sitting next to her boyfriend of close to three years.

Christopher Reed is the larger man making the funny face in the photo above. He’s also Ashley’s boyfriend.

What the two didn’t expect was the pushback they got from the reddit community — more than 2,600 comments and counting, with an onslaught of fat-shaming jokes and Down’s syndrome remarks thrown in for good measure.

Here’s a sampling.

“What’s he upset about? He needs to nail that Down before his heart quits on him!

“Does he have downs?

“I don’t know what he’s upset about. She is clearly out of his league.

“He doesn’t have anything to worry about. she’ll leave him soon enough, with a face like that.

“That dude should marry her yesterday before she gets ahold of a mirror.”

Well, Ashley Stevens read many of these comments and appreciated exactly none of them. That’s why she took to Facebook to defend her boyfriend against anyone, who would be so shallow to say hurtful things about another human being from a single photograph. Here’s her response.

“It surprises me how many people are so quick to judge when they don’t even know you. Well let me just tell you, I won the jackpot with Christopher.

“He may not have rock hard abs like the world tells girls to want in a guy, but really, why does that even matter when you are trying to really find someone to spend the rest of your life with? He is so thoughtful and patient, he always shows me how he loves me in little ways, he is my best friend. I love him for who he is and he loves me for who I am. Understanding, loving, and hilarious, which is so rare to find these days!!

“Since I was young, (like many other little girls) I dreamed about who I would end up with, once I gave my life to Christ and saw examples of Godly marriages and relationships, I wanted that. God saw the desires of my heart and blessed me with Christopher.

“He brings me closer to God through prayer, and his love. I know God will use us both for awesome things because we make a great team! So as of us and those rude comments, we know the truth and we will block out the haters. Enjoy our picture though. Lol”

The response has gone about as viral as the initial post did, and now if you visit the reddit thread, you’ll find more supportive commenters near the top.

As for Christopher, he doesn’t appear to be too bothered by the comments. In an interview with ABC News, he had this to say.

“Honestly, I’ve always been a big guy the majority of my life and so of course I had the comments and the cruel jokes growing up, so I kind of got used to it. I know who I am and I really don’t care what people have to say about me because I’m confident. It’s trolls sitting behind their computers. They don’t know us and they can’t talk about us, so honestly it just didn’t bother me.”

What do you think about the commenters and about Ashley Stevens’ response? Sound off in the comments section below.

[Image of Christopher Reed and Ashley Stevens via Facebook, linked above]