Pittsburgh Pridegoers Get 'Free Dad Hugs'
While Motor City Pride in Detroit was assailed by armed Nazis carrying swastika flags and hurling hate rhetoric through megaphones and a trio of men linked to white nationalist groups laid plans for a "Straight Pride" to mirror Boston's annual LGBTQ celebration, a few loving souls went to Pittsburgh to offer hugs and acceptance that pridegoers were denied from their own parents just because they were something other than heteronormative.
One of those generous people was Howie Dittman, Buzzfeed reported, and the "Free Dad Hugs" hugs he gave out were a healing balm to men and women rejected by their own families.
Dittman, deeply moved, took to Facebook afterwards.
"PARENTS," he wrote. "A handful of us went to the Pittsburgh Pride Parade today, sporting our FREE DAD HUGS and FREE MOM HUGS t-shirts. We gave out hundreds of hugs. Hundreds. Some were super happy hugs."
But some were tearful, shared with deeply wounded people, like a 19-year-ld man whose parents threw him out and refused further contact with him when they found out he was gay. Another memorable person Dittman wrote about was a young woman who approached him tearfully and "held on for so long, melting into me, and thanked me endlessly."
"Imagine that, parents," Dittman wrote. "Imagine that your child feels SO LOST FROM YOU that they sink into the arms of a complete stranger and sob endlessly just because that stranger is wearing a shirt offering hugs from a dad. Think of the depths of their pain. Try to imagine how deep those cuts must be.
"Please don't be the parent of a child that has to shoulder that burden. I met WAY too many of them, of all ages, today."
What happened next was just as meaningful, Dittmaan told Buzzfeed.
""I've had so many parents reach out to me saying they've been crying for days, saying they've been those parents, and they've reached out to their children they haven't talked to in years,"
Dittman is also the author of two children's books, "What If" and "Cuddle Me." Taking to Facebook once again, Dittman again demonstrated his selflessness, writing, "If you feel like picking up a copy (or a bunch, and donate them to your local schools, maybe???), EVERY DIME OF THE PROCEEDS will go towards the grassroots volunteer group Helping Butler County to help lift up those who are less fortunate in western PA (and soon well beyond)."
"Mom Hugs" and "Dad Hugs" for the alienated LGBTQ offspring of rejecting families are a growing phenomenon. Similar offerings of hugs and support to LGBTQ people whose families have pushed them away created headlines when it was announced earlier this year that Jamie Lee Curtis was working on bringing the story of Sara Cunningham, of Oklahoma City, to the big screen. Cunningham posted a message to Facebook last July offering to be a "stand-in mom" at same-sex weddings for grooms and brides whose own parents refused to attend.