Pride Month is about honoring both the courage and compassion of those within the LGBTQ community. And what better way to do that, than by embracing its members?
That objective, in its most literal sense, is the driving force behind Free Mom Hugs, a national nonprofit that endeavors to spread a message of tolerance and love at pride events and other gatherings. The group’s volunteers offer hugs to people who have been rejected by their families for living their truths about who they are, who they love, or both.
“It’s not Free Mom Hugs’ intention or mission to replace anyone’s mother. … We are always hopeful that the parent will come around,” Sara Cunningham, the nonprofit’s founder, said to Nice News. “But until they do, we want to be that loving presence in the lives of those who need it the most.”
Cunningham learned about this need the hard way – not as the shunned child, but as the parent struggling to understand. Based in an especially conservative region of Oklahoma, a decidedly red state, she admits in her startup story to initially rejecting her son, Parker, after he came out as gay. But a journey of cultural immersion and self-reflection opened her heart.
And then, it opened her arms. In June 2015, Cunningham attended Oklahoma City’s annual pride festival, offering love to strangers by way of a button that read, you guessed it, “Free Mom Hugs.” On the nonprofit’s website, she recalls her first hug with “a beautiful girl who whispered, ‘It’s been four years since I got a hug from my mom because I’m a lesbian.’”
She continued her campaign on a local level until 2018, when a social media post of hers offering to stand in as a surrogate mother at same-sex weddings went viral. Its popularity and spread showed Cunningham a broader need for her brand of overt love.
And she was, indeed, on to something – according to the organization’s 2023 impact report, Free Mom Hugs recruited roughly 24,000 volunteers through their chapters in all 50 states to execute over 1,200 events last year. The organization also hosted its first-ever national conference, “Love Revolution,” and was featured in a PBS documentary.
As Pride Month 2024 gets underway, Cunningham remains committed to her mission of changing the world an embrace at a time.
“We call that very first hug that a volunteer might give at the very first pride festival they attend ‘the spark,’” she told Nice News. “I think that’s the essence of humanity — when we acknowledge each other.”
