12-year-old Mexican boy stands up to thousands of anti-LGBTQ protesters

One boy may not have been able to stop a mob of 11,000 anti-LGBTQ protesters in their tracks, but he is making the world pay attention.

Over the weekend,  groups against same-sex marriage in Mexico came out to protest after President Peña Nieto proposed to change the constitution to allow same-sex marriage across all 31 states, according to USA Today.

WATCH: Hundreds of LGBT supporters marched in Mexico City to rally around President Enrique Pena Nieto’s proposal to recognize same sex marriage throughout the traditionally conservative country.

1:07 Raw video: Hundreds march in Mexico City in opposition to same-sex marriage

But as protesters made their way through the streets of Celaya, Guanajuato, a 12-year-old boy walked out in to the middle of the street and held his arms out to his side.

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That’s when journalist Manuel Rodriguez snapped the photo, which is now making its rounds online.

“At first I thought the child was only playing,” Rodriguez said in an interview with the publication Regeneración.

But when he later caught up with the boy and asked why he did what he did, he told Rodriguez, “I have an uncle who is gay and I hate people that hate.”

READ MORE: Mexicans march for gay marriage, day after opponents rally

Many are now comparing the photo to the “Tank Man” photograph, when a Chinese student stood in front of several tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Several others took to social media to show their support for the boy.

Same-sex marriage is currently allowed in several Mexican cities including Mexico City, Coahuila, Quintana Roo, Jalisco, Nayarit, Chihuahua and Sonora.