Laurelle Mellet, mother of out YouTube sensation Troye Sivan, has launched an online petition to fund an anti-LGBT bullying initiative in her home country of Australia.

In the petition, Mellet calls on the national government to extend its funding of the Safe Schools Coalition.

While the program has been praised by many for providing much needed guidance and resources for LGBT youth in schools across the country, it has been heavily criticized by conservative politicians, with some erroneously lambasting the initiative as "extreme sex education."

In response to the loud noise raised by these opponents, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull recently announced that he would be suspending funding for the program, which will go into effect mid-2017.

In her introduction, Mellet writes: “My son Troye Sivan told us he was gay at 14. It made me nervous."

“His coming out video went viral and we couldn’t be prouder of him," it continues. "But Troye was lucky. Thousands of gay teens battle aggressive intimidation, exclusion and even attempts of suicide.”

"Gay teens are 14 times more likely to kill themselves in Australia," it concludes. "Despite this, most schools won’t opt in to the program unless it’s made compulsory-it’s frightening."

Mellet (pictured above with her family) spoke with BuzzFeed about the petition and the grim reality that faces Australia's young LGBT community if programs like Safe Schools continue to go unfunded.

“I get daily emails from kids saying how hard it is, they can’t come out to their parents, they’re getting bullied. It really gets to me...I don’t understand why schools are hesitating and why it’s not being funded," she said.

When asked about what her son Troye thought of the petition, she remarked that he'd told her it was "great," adding that he sent her an email telling her how "proud" he was of the work she was doing.

“How do parents not want to see their children happy?” Mellet asked. “At the end of the day, that’s what it’s all about.”

The petition has already been signed by over 28,000 supporters. If it reaches 35K, it will be sent to Education Minister Simon Birmingham and Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Sign it, here.

h/t: BuzzFeed