On Tuesday 30 July, parents of LGBTQ youth were encouraged to reflect the bravery of their child and ‘come out’ to their friends, families and wider communities to help make it easier for other parents struggling to accept or understand their LGBTQ children.
The day was especially important for those in conservative cultural or religious communities, where the feeling of shame can prevent parents from speaking openly about their LGBTQ children.
Parents used the #OutAndProudParentsDay hashtag to share stories and pictures of their LGBTQ children and show how proud they were of them.
The Out And Proud Parents Day was founded by Naz and Matt Foundation, a registered charity which was set up in 2014 following the loss of Matt’s fiancé and soulmate Naz.
Naz took his own life two days after his deeply religious family confronted him about his sexuality. The foundation exists to tackle homophobia triggered by religion to help parents accept their children.
See a selection of posts from Out And Proud Parents Day below.
