Latest news with #FreeMomHugs
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
A father's hug goes a long way: Organization Free Mom Hugs offers comfort, support during Pride Month
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — For many celebrating Pride Month, a simple hug can hold profound meaning, especially when it comes from someone filling the gap left by family rejection. That's the mission behind Free Mom Hugs. This national nonprofit offers unconditional love and support to LGBTQ+ individuals by acting as surrogates for members of the community rejected by their parents. Organizers push Little Rock's SoMa Pride parade back due to weather While the organization's name spotlights mothers, it's also drawing in dads like Peter Gess, a Little Rock volunteer who's become a steady presence alongside his wife at local Pride events. 'It has the name Free Mom Hugs, and that's super important,' Gess said. 'But especially for young members of the LGBTQ community, they may be more likely estranged from their father, and sometimes looking to see support from male figures.' Gess recalled one moment that's stayed with him: at an early event, a young man looked into the tent and said, 'These mom hugs are great, but I really want a hug from a father.' 'I don't know what we did to incur this wrath,' Transgender Arkansans react to President Trump's gender policies It's moments like that fueling Gess's commitment to showing up, not to replace family, he said, but to stand in when someone needs love most. 'Everyone deserves love,' he said. 'We're not there to replace family; we're just there to help someone out when they might really need it.' Free Mom Hugs chapters around the country frequently appear at Pride parades and community events, offering hugs, holding signs, and providing a safe space for those who may not feel accepted at home. For volunteers like Gess, the experience is as meaningful for them as it is for those they support. 'I think it's helped me appreciate my relationship with my father and my children even more,' he said. 'It's helped me see just how important fathers are in the world.' This June, Community Bakery in Little Rock is hosting a fundraiser for the organization, with proceeds supporting local events and outreach. Pope Francis reached out to migrants and the LGBTQ+ community, but also drew unusual opposition The group is also seeking new volunteers, especially parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles, who want to be a loving presence for someone who may not have one. 'The family connection is super important for all kinds of people,' Gess said. 'When that goes missing, even for a short period, it can be really hard. If I can help even for a brief moment, that's a wonderful connection.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Need a 'free dad hug' or 'free mom hug'? These parents are giving them out at Pride.
It all started with a homemade button with 'Free Mom Hugs' written on it in black Sharpie. Sara Cunningham, a mom of two from Oklahoma, wore it to a Pride festival in 2015, offering hugs to anyone who needed one. 'With anyone who made eye contact with me, I would say, 'Could I offer you a hug or a high five?''she tells Yahoo Life. 'The first girl I offered a hug to said it's been four years since she had a hug from her mother because she's a lesbian,' Cunnignham says. That ignited a spark in her to do more, leading her to found the nonprofit Free Mom Hugs. What started as just a few moms in Oklahoma City has turned into a national movement with more than 40,000 registered volunteers. Cunningham didn't start out as a fierce advocate, however. When her son came out to her years ago, she felt devastated and alone, something she wrote about in her book, How We Sleep at Night: A Mother's Memoir. 'I thought I was the only mother in the world, or at least Oklahoma anyway, with a gay kid,' she says. Cunningham wrestled with her conservative Christian faith and admits she didn't treat her son well, 'believing that [he] was condemned for eternity and that if I accepted him or even tolerated him, that made me a sinner too,' she says. 'I was frozen in that fear.' Over time, Cunningham educated herself and met other moms like her. 'It was a journey from the church to the Pride parade without losing my faith or my son,' she says. When her son invited her to join him at a Pride parade in 2014, she met his 'beautiful community' and saw how happy he was. It became a pivotal moment in Cunningham's life, and there was no going back after that. 'I know the power of fear and ignorance, and I know the power of love and education,' she says. Cunningham chose love. When Free Mom Hugs members like Cunningham give hugs, they also share words of encouragement. 'That is, in church words, 'the fruit of the spirit,'' she says. 'It's empowering and it's life-giving just by saying, 'I love you. I'm so glad you're here and you belong.'' Cunningham is one of thousands of moms and dads who show up at Pride celebrations across the country, ready to embrace anyone who needs it. Here, four others describe what giving out these hugs means to them — and why they matter. For as far back as he can remember, Sean Leacy has wanted to be a dad. The father of four, who lives in Washington with his wife, also organizes events for the Tacoma Dads Group, which has grown to 1,200 members. When the group decided to give out free dad hugs at the Tacoma Pride Festival a few years ago, 'we had a bit of pushback from people in the community that did not agree with that idea,' he tells Yahoo Life. The group lost some members, but at the same time 'we've gained in dads who believe in equal human rights for just people, regardless of their orientation.' Leacy cares about showing up as a parent, and giving hugs and high-fives at Pride is one way of doing that. 'If these parents are not going to be parents, if they're not going to step up and they're going to give in to their own selfishness and bigotry, then we'll be there.' That support is making a difference. Last year, his dads group got a booth at the entrance of the Pride festival. 'So you could not walk in without walking past us,' he says. 'We weren't pushy about it, but we wanted to make sure that everyone understood that we're here to give a hug.' And given their location, they gave a lot of them. A police officer stationed at the event came up to the group later on and said, 'I don't know if you really fully understand [the impact] because when people are walking away from you guys and walking toward us, they are just bawling. I'm touched by the impact this is making.' Leacy adds: 'That was a big deal for us.' Leacy acknowledges that with free dad hugs, fathers like him are 'stepping into a space that has been held very much so by mothers, and dads have not been out there doing it. I think that it's more expected for free mom hugs to be there. It's less expected that dads will be involved. I think that's probably where a lot of the impact is coming from — the idea that there is just a bunch of big, huggable guys that are literally just looking to give out a hug.' Five years ago, Erin Gambino-Russo, a Long Island mom of three, was watching a documentary about the LGBTQ community. She can't recall the name, but it left her feeling like she needed to act. 'I can't just sit here and feel sorry for people,' she recalls thinking. 'I need to do something.' An online search led her to Free Mom Hugs. 'I did not know that it was an organization,' she tells Yahoo Life. 'I thought it was just a shirt that people wore.' Gambino-Russo joined her local Free Mom Hugs chapter, eventually becoming the co-leader with Lisa Schlossberg (their chapter was even chosen to be grand marshals at Long Island Pride last Sunday). 'I tell people all the time that next to being a mom of three amazing kids, this is the thing I'm most proud of in my life,' Gambino-Russo says. Of all the hugs she has given, one stands out: 'I gave a hug to a 70-year-old trans woman who hadn't had contact with her mother since she came out 30 years prior,' she says. 'She wasn't even permitted to go to her mother's funeral service. This woman hugged me as if I were her mom. She needed a mom hug. She was old enough to be my parent, but it wasn't about that. It was about the love of a mom and the acceptance.' Gambino-Russo's husband joined her at Long Island Pride last year to give out dad hugs. 'He gave a lot of hugs because a lot of kids need the dad hug,' she says, adding that there was one person at Pride who hugged her husband and had a hard time letting go. 'They kept whispering apologies to him. I'm so sorry, but I just really need this. It was emotional.' While the hugs certainly feel good, Gambino-Russo says that's not the main point for her. She keeps showing up because of the statistic that LGBTQ youth who report having at least one accepting adult are 40% less likely to report a suicide attempt in the past year. 'To me, what's important is for every human to know that they're loved and beautiful and perfect the way they are,' she says. Lillian Godone-Maresca, a mom of eight who lives in Rhode Island, says that supporting the gay community aligns with how her parents raised her — and even her Catholic faith. While that might seem surprising given the church's stance on LGBTQ issues, Godone-Maresca says that her teachings were about seeing Jesus 'in the homeless, the hungry, the persecuted, the oppressed, the sick. So that's what moves me to do it.' Godone-Maresca, whose doormat by her front door bears the slogan, 'Hate has no home here,' tells Yahoo Life that her parents and grandparents were 'ahead of their time in matters of equality and social justice. We embrace everyone.' She adds, 'I grew up having been taught about kindness.' That inspired her to show up at her local Pride parade last year to give out hugs, wearing a 'Free Mom Hugs' T-shirt while holding up a handwritten sign that reads: 'I'm here because I'm a Catholic, but you don't need to be a Catholic to get a mom's hug.' 'I got interested in this mom hugs idea because I find it so regrettable that some parents may disown their own children, may not support them and may turn their back on them,' Godone-Maresca says. 'It's unthinkable that someone may not accept their own children.' She recalls a memorable moment at Pride when a young man in his early 20s came up to her for a hug. 'He gave me such a long hug,' she says. 'He really needed it.' Godone-Maresca says she's already signed up to attend two more Pride celebrations this year. 'You feel that you're doing something meaningful,' she says. During Pride month three years ago, Jackie Kaldon Burton watched the documentary Mama Bears, which follows conservative Christian moms whose lives change when they accept and advocate for their LGBTQ children. The film features the Mama Bears organization, founded by Liz Dyer, which supports LGBTQ families and even stands in for absent parents at weddings and other celebrations. 'I cried through the whole thing,' Burton, who has a gay son, tells Yahoo Life. 'I was so taken by this.' That same year, she and her best friend, Christine Dammann, marched with PFLAG, an organization for LGBTQ families and friends. As they walked, Burton says young people kept approaching them with hugs, thanking them for being supportive parents. 'It was so incredibly powerful and wonderful but also sad,' she says. 'Every time one of them would walk away, Christine and I would look at one another and be like, I can't fathom not embracing your child.' This past weekend, Burton's small town of Pleasantville, N.Y, held its first-ever Pride celebration. After reaching out to the founder of Mama Bears, Burton and her best friend set up a table at Pride to share information about the organization with others. 'I think the only way to make change is literally person by person,' she says. Burton acknowledges that as a stranger she can't make up for the acceptance and love of an actual parent. 'But if it helps bridge the gap just a little bit, then that's all that matters.'
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sally Beauty Partners with Free Mom Hugs to Support the LGBTQIA+ Community At Local Pride Events Across the Nation
The beauty retailer is reinforcing its commitment to community-building, self-expression, and inclusion by partnering with Free Mom Hugs for the second consecutive year. DENTON, Texas, May 28, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Sally Beauty, the industry-leading destination for professional-quality hair color and care, is proud to announce the latest initiative in the Rooted in Success event series, which has engaged with over 23,000 consumers since its launch in 2024. To continue building upon last year's momentum, the retailer will be present in five cities across the United States to support events in celebration of the LGBTQIA+ community. Sally Beauty is proud to continue its partnership with Free Mom Hugs, a 501(c)3 organization that empowers the world to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community through visibility, education, and conversation. Following a strong partnership in New York City last June, which served more than 6,000 consumers across a 3-day celebration, this year, Free Mom Hugs and Sally Beauty are continuing their support together by taking their partnership across the country. Throughout June, Sally Beauty and Free Mom Hugs will host booths at local Pride festivals and parades, offering a space filled with inspiration and community building. Sally Beauty will distribute 5,000 gift cards* at the events to help attendees discover products that promote self-confidence and self-expression. Free Mom Hugs volunteers will join in the celebrations by offering hugs, high-fives, affirmations, and emotional support. "Partnering with Sally Beauty during Pride is more than just a celebration—it's a powerful statement of visibility and affirmation," said Free Mom Hugs Founder, Sara Cunningham. "Together, we're creating spaces where authenticity is celebrated, beauty is inclusive, and everyone feels seen, valued, and loved." Find Sally Beauty and Free Mom Hugs at the following Pride events this June: June 8, WorldPride DC 2025 Street Festival and Concert (Washington, D.C.) June 14-15, Dallas Pride Music Festival + Dallas Pride Parade (Dallas, TX) June 29, San Francisco Pride Celebration (San Francisco, CA) June 29, Denver PrideFest (Denver, CO) June 29, NYC PrideFest (New York, NY) "Inspiring individuality and creating a space where all are welcome is at the heart of what we do," said John Goss, President of Sally Beauty. "Our Rooted in Success event series, along with our partnership with Free Mom Hugs, is a testament to our commitment to inclusion by ensuring Sally Beauty communities feel seen, supported, and celebrated." In addition to the local Pride celebrations taking place across the country, Sally Beauty is spotlighting LGBTQIA+ founders and creators across the retailer's digital channels to drive storytelling and spark meaningful conversation. Consumers will discover Brad Mondo (Founder, XMONDO), Jesseca Dupart (Founder, Kaleidoscope), Brian O'Connor (Founder, Good Dye Young), Amy Errett (Founder & CEO, Madison Reed), Joey Jay (RuPaul's Drag Race series alum), Gregory Patterson (Celebrity Stylist and Hair Expert for Sally Beauty), Matt Newman (Hairstylist and Content Creator @mattloveshair), and Jonathan Monroe (Content Creator @jonathankmonroe), to name a few. Learn more about Pride programming and Sally Beauty's LGBTQIA+ owned or founded brands at About Sally Beauty Holdings, Beauty Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: SBH), as the leader in professional hair color, sells and distributes professional beauty supplies globally through its Sally Beauty Supply and Beauty Systems Group businesses. Sally Beauty Supply stores offer up to 7,000 products for hair color, hair care, nails, and skin care through proprietary brands such as Ion®, Bondbar®, Strawberry Leopard®, Generic Value Products®, Inspired by Nature® and Silk Elements® as well as professional lines such as Wella®, Clairol®, OPI®, L'Oreal®, Wahl® and Babyliss Pro®. Beauty Systems Group stores, branded as Cosmo Prof® or Armstrong McCall® stores, along with its outside sales consultants, sell up to 8,000 professionally branded products including Paul Mitchell®, Wella®, Matrix®, Schwarzkopf®, Kenra®, Goldwell®, Joico®, Amika® and Moroccanoil®, intended for use in salons and for resale by salons to retail consumers. For more information about Sally Beauty Holdings, Inc., please visit About Free Mom Hugs Free Mom Hugs is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that works to empower the world to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community through visibility, education and conversation. Learn more about Free Mom Hugs. *while supplies last View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Sally Beauty Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
31-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Area groups host picnic and rally ahead of Transgender Day of Visibility
JOPLIN, Mo. — Joplin's LGBTQ community gets a head start on Transgender Day of Visibility this afternoon. JOMO Pride and Joplin for Justice hosted a picnic and rally at Cunningham Park, with free hot dogs, trivia, and bingo. Political experts with Promo Missouri were there to educate attendees about anti-transgender legislation scheduled for hearings in the Missouri legislature this week. Some bills discussed include a ban on gender-affirming health care, barring trans athletes from playing sports, and restricting access to public restrooms. 'Southwest Missouri All for Love and Love for All' and 'Free Mom Hugs – Missouri' also came out today to celebrate and show their support for the trans community. Celebrating Trans Visibility Day 'This is close to my heart. I have a trans daughter, and when I found out about Free Mom Hugs, I found a new home,' said Victoria Morris, Free Mom Hugs Missouri. 'How are you going to be comfortable with them if you keep them at an arm's distance and don't actually engage with them and stuff like that? So that's a big thing about being visible. LGBTQ community being visible, the trans community being visible, to let people know we are here, we're in your community, we're human,' said Ron Burch, JOMO Pride co-chair. According to GLAAD, International Transgender Day of Visibility was established in 2010, and is celebrated every year on March 31. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
