Church Offers 'Free Mom Hugs' To People Shunned By Their Families For Being Gay
Rainbow flags, costumes, and parade floats are all the things you would expect to see at any LGBTQ pride week, but what about a church pastor giving out hugs? We know the slogan of Austin, Texas is ‘keep Austin weird,’ but people were probably caught off-guard when they saw best-selling Christian author Jen Hatmaker, along with the Austin New Church congregation offering ‘free mom hugs’ to Austin Pride Week attendees.
The idea behind ‘mom hugs’ originally came from Oklahoma author Sara Cunningham. A religious woman living in a conservative town, she struggled to deal with her son’s sexuality and told CBS she felt, “I had to choose between my child and faith.” Her perspective changed after a conversation with her son, where he told her, “‘Mom, I met someone and I need you to be okay with it.'” It took time, education and Facebook groups but Cunningham and her husband came around and began attending pride events. Through her own transformation she noticed how many kids were still suffering from family rejection, so in 2015 she made a Facebook post volunteering her services as a ‘stand-in-mom’ for LGBT individuals who had been shunned by their parents for being gay.
Cunningham’s post went viral and turned spawned the official organization Free Mom Hugs. According to the site they: “Attend various events, offering hugs, support, and resources to the LGBTQ+ community. Free Mom Hugs also offers speakers for various functions and events.” The group has gone on to inspire others, like Hatmaker and her pastor husband Brandon, to literally open up their arms to their local LGBTQ community.
Adding the emotional responses they received from attendees such as:
“I miss this.”
“My mom doesn’t love me anymore.”
“My Dad hasn’t spoken to me in three years.”
“Please just one more hug.”
https://www.boredpanda.com/free-mom-hugs-lgbtq-pride-austin-new-church-texas-jen-hatmaker/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=Newsletter
= new reply since forum marked as read
With real christians. People who accually listen and practice what Jesus taught.
