One dad's unwavering support of his gay son is warming the internet's cold, dead heart. One of his TikTok videos went massively viral a while back, and it gives us hope in humanity. In the video, John Wyatt of Owasso, Oklahoma, wishes everyone on TikTok a "Happy Pride Month."
But the Oklahoma dad also gives an extra-special shout-out to his teenage son Caden, who proudly hangs a rainbow flag from the front of their home as his dad happily cheers him on.
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The video was originally shared on June 5, 2021, at the start of Pride Month.
But as the celebratory month continued to build momentum, TikTokers keep sharing, commenting, and liking the video more and more each day.
(Once you have a look, it'll be easy to see why.)
The video opens on a shot of the father and son, who stand side by side in their front yard.
"We are fixing to shock Oklahoma and our neighborhood," the proud dad declares, just as Lady Gaga's iconic gay anthem "Born This Way" begins to play in the background.
Seconds later, Caden breaks out a motorized drill and gets to work on a little project …
Turns out, that 'project' is hanging a colorful pride flag from the front of their home.
Considering the Wyatts live in a particularly conservative part of the country, that's definitely something you don't see every day.
"Yeahhhh, boy!" says John, as his son begins drilling holes into the side of the house.
A few screws later, the flag holder is set. Caden is seen emerging from the house carrying a large, colorful flag that waves in the wind, and he puts it in place.
According to 'Good Morning America,' the particular flag the family hung is actually called an ally flag.
Unlike a typical pride flag, it features black and white stripes to represent the heterosexual, cisgender community (aka the allies), as well as the rainbow colors we usually see in a pride flag, which are represented in the shape of the letter A.
As John told Good Morning America this week, he and his wife, Janell, 46, first saw the flag last month when they took Caden to Owasso’s first Pride celebration. Caden bought the flag to take home but didn't think about putting it outside until Pride Month hit.
"Caden asked if we could fly that flag and we immediately bought the means to do so," his dad told the news program. "We installed it together that same day and made that video."
It was clearly a happy moment for the family. (Not to mention an emotional one.)
"Last year I didn’t get to go to Pride," Caden told Good Morning America, "so this year I wanted to celebrate in any way I could."
Although he admitted to feeling a little nervous about putting out a pride flag in his ultra-conservative town, that's not because he's not ashamed of who he is or that he doesn't want other people to know it.
His apprehension is understandable, given the recent rise in hate crimes against marginalized groups. Even though the US has made a lot of progress in the last 10 years when it comes to gay rights and LGBTQIA+ visibility, there's still a long way to go.
According to ACLU, 417 anti-LGBTQ bills have been introduced in the first few months of 2023. Many of them have to do with prohibiting gender-affirming treatment for trans youth and blocking trans athletes from playing in sports that don't align with their affirmed genders. Others target education and what can be said about members of the LGBTQIA+ community in classrooms.
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But the celebration of Pride each year isn't just about the ongoing fight for equal rights.
For many LGBTQIA+ teens such as Caden, simply having the unconditional love and support of their parents is everything. After all, the desire to feel accepted, understood, and even celebrated for our differences is only natural as humans.
The sad reality is that not everyone returns home to parents who are willing to accept them for who they are — as the comments on John's TikTok video clearly show.
“NOW THIS IS UNCONDITIONAL LOVE!” wrote one person.
“Good job dad,” added another person. “This actually made me cry.”
“You and your wife are freaking amazing parents!” wrote someone else.
“Thank you for being a good dad for him,” added yet another TikToker. “We all didn’t have this and I can’t imagine having a dad this supportive.”
As John told the morning show, he and his wife had suspected Caden might be gay from an early age.
As conservative, religious people, it challenged their whole belief system.
"It definitely started me on the thought, ‘Well, maybe it isn’t necessarily a choice. Maybe it’s something you’re born into,’" John said. "And time would prove me right. No one can convince me he wasn’t born that way."
When Caden finally came out to his family in the spring of 2020, his parents embraced him with open arms.
"We told him we already knew and we’re super proud of him," his dad recalled. "We all hugged and cried, knowing that his life was about to change."
Since then, the parents have distanced themselves from religion as they've grown in their support of the LGTBQ community. That said, they are still very much surrounded by people who think and feel differently than they do.
"I would consider Owasso very conservative, as well as most of Oklahoma," John told Good Morning America. "I haven’t seen, or noticed, too much support for the [LGBTQ] community."
Hopefully, that will begin to change in the years ahead — but it starts with people like the Wyatts being loud and proud.
Now, the parents say they're just happy their son is living his life authentically.
"He was free to be himself before coming out, and I think that’s why he was so comfortable coming out to us," his father shared. "He knew he had our support. I think it just helped him fully understand that he could now be 100% the person [he] always wanted to be."
