This Pure Angel Has Started A Global Movement Of Mums Offering To Stand In At LGBTIQ Weddings
"I'll even bring the bubbles."
After challenging her own prejudices when her son came out as gay, Oklahoma woman Sarah Cunningham founded ‘Free Mom Hugs’, an organisation that gives hearty embraces at LGBTIQ rallies and events.
And now, thanks to some attention courtesy of BuzzFeed UK, mums across the globe are offering to stand-in as a parental figure at same-sex weddings.
While ‘Free Mom Hugs’ has existed since 2016, its received an abundance of attention in the past week after Cunningham made a semi-viral Facebook post in which she said she would attend any same-sex wedding in place of an unsupportive biological mother.
“PSA. If you need a mom to attend your same sex wedding because your biological mom won’t, Call me,” she wrote. “I’m there. I’ll be your biggest fan. I’ll even bring the bubbles.”
I posted this on July 20th. It's been shared over over 5K times, I've received at least 450 FB friend request and I can't even keep up w/ the PMages. Some of them are haunting. LORD THE NEED IS GREAT. Go to my FB page and start loving on some kids! pic.twitter.com/lVP9o1F49B
— Sara Cunningham (@MamaBearOk) July 22, 2018
Since then, she’s been inundated with requests to attend weddings. As of writing, the thread’s received more than 700 comments — not only are LGBTIQ people reaching out ahead of their big day, but mums (and dads) across the globe are offering to provide their parental services.
Talking to BuzzFeed UK, Cunningham explained that her own journey to ‘Free Mom Hugs’ wasn’t immediate. As a Christian, she struggled to consolidate her faith with her son’s sexuality.
“I thought, ‘If my son is going to hell for being gay I’m gonna fight for him like my hair is on fire,'” Cunningham said. “Since then I’ve gotten educated and no longer believe that — so now I’ve [been] fighting for him and the LGBTI community like my hair is on fire because I’ve seen the power of what fear and ignorance can do.”
As I travel with the @freemomhugs message I often hear from the older LGBTQ community "I wish you were around 20 years ago!" I like to respond with the following. 1. Thank you for paving the way for my son. 2. Forgive me for taking so long to get here and 3. I ain't leavin'! pic.twitter.com/7F0rLPNZv0
— Sara Cunningham (@MamaBearOk) July 17, 2018
Since then, she’s written the book on allyship (literally), founded ‘Free Mom Hugs’ (which is similar to LGBTI ally group PFLAG, but with a cuter name), and ordained more queer weddings than she can count. Hence her Facebook post: Cunningham told BuzzFeed UK that a lot of those couples’ parents wouldn’t attend the weddings, and often told her they wished their parents were as supportive as she was.
She’s been overwhelmed by the messages, and honestly, so are we.