Man who helped gay couples find 'Stand-in Parents' for their marriage is tying the knot

Weddings are special but what about the wedding of someone who has made many many other weddings possible? It becomes an extraordinary occasion. Daniel Belvins, the man who helped many gay couples get married by helping them find stand-in parents, is getting married. He has touched so many lives and provided. One such person is Sarah Declouette. For a lot of people, the wedding day is one of the most important days of their lives and Declouette. However, things went downhill with her parents refusing to attend the wedding with her girlfriend Lori Avitia, reports The Washington Post.

Declouette, in a TikTok video, shared her pain with the world, which attracted 2 million views and was shared on various other social media platforms as well. She says: “I’ve been openly gay since I was 15, so it really hurt to find out she (her mother) didn’t want to share this happy moment in my life. My fiancée has like 100 people in her family that are going to be there — her dad and her mom and her stepmom — and like on my side, I’m not going to have anybody.”

“I’m so happy to finally meet him — I’m going to treat him just like he’s my dad,” she said. “It’s nice to know that someone like Dan has my back. Having his support will make all the difference,” she further added. This video caught the eyes of Daniel Belvins, the founder of a support group called ‘Stand-in Pride.’ There were about 55,000 people who extended their support in the comment section, but Belvins reacted differently. He decided to be the stand-in parent for Declouette.

“I was really touched by her video, and Sarah and I quickly built a strong connection online and over the phone, I knew that I wanted to be there for her on her wedding day. For every unsupportive person, there are hundreds of others with a lot of love to give,” he said.

Belvins, a father of two, flew down to Ventura to extend his support to Sarah. “I had such a good response that I knew this was something that was needed, people kept telling me that they wanted to do the same thing,” he added.

Even though he cannot go around across cities to be a stand-in parent for many in need, he is definitely able to connect people who are willing to be stand-in parents for people in need. People who are a part of his support group from various parts of the country are able to make time and travel to make the special day of someone, who are total stranger to them, even more special.

Belvins came up with this idea, inspired by the free mom hugs initiative by Sarah Cunningham, a mom from Oklahoma, started in 2019, who offer to be a stand-in mom for gay weddings. He is happy that he could create a community of people who are spreading happiness when things seem gloomy. That is when he formalized his initiative and started Stand in Pride, to attend graduations and weddings of homosexual people who do not have their families supporting or attending them. Now, his support group has about a hundred thousand members and spreads across 70 countries.

Kesha Serna is also someone who has also reached out to Belvins through social media. He immediately agreed and said he will be there knowing that she lives just two hours away.

“When you reach out to a stranger on the internet, you have no idea what you’re stepping into, but I had the sense that Daniel really cared and wanted to be there for me. What Daniel is doing is so important — he’s reaching out to people who have nobody there for them and he’s inspiring thousands of people to step up. He’s showing everyone that this is about loving your neighbor and being there for your neighbor,” Kesha said

“It’s devastating — I personally have known people who have taken their own lives. I was lucky to connect with Daniel. There are people out there with nobody,” She added. There are many who are in support of Belvin and his kindness and who have now gotten married to his partner. There are also many who are like him, spreading joy in the world in whatever little ways they could. After all, it is people like him who make us believe that the world is a great place.