Dad with conservative upbringing shows simple act of solidarity with gay son, offers 'dad hugs' to other queer kids

Caden Wyatt's parents had long suspected he was gay. However, he had not come out to them until last year, at 14-years-old. The Wyatt family lives in a conservative neighborhood in Oklahoma, but that has not stopped Wyatt's dad, John Wyatt, and his mother Janell Wyatt from proclaiming how proud they are of their 15-year-old. In an act of solidarity with their son, the Wyatt parents hung a flag outside their house to ring in Pride Month, celebrated in the month of June every year. The moment John hung the flag outside their house was filmed and uploaded to TikTok with Lady Gaga's 'Born This Way' playing in the background. Since it was first posted earlier this month, the video has gone viral, BuzzFeed News reports.

John proclaims in the video, "We are fixin’ to shock Oklahoma." He then hangs the flag outside. The moment was described as a major milestone for the Wyatt family. The viral TikTok has drawn several comments of support, praise, and just all-around wholesomeness. Wyatt said in an interview with BuzzFeed, "I’m really lucky to have such supportive parents, because I know a lot of other people aren’t as lucky as me." His dad was not always supportive of the LGBTQ+ community as he was raised in a conservative setting, but he has since embraced the community.

"That’s when we really started embracing [the community], because we knew our son was gay, and at any time he could come out," John shared. "And he needed to see that we were going to be able to support him and be there for him." The flag the teen's parents hung outside their house is the ally flag, which features a rainbow letter A atop a background of black and white stripes. Wyatt and his mother purchased the flag at their city’s first Pride festival last spring. While the young man has a classic pride flag, he hopes the ally flag will serve as a reminder to his neighborhood: "I want people to know that my parents have their back, and so do I."

John added, "There’s a lot of Q flags in our neighborhood, a lot of Trump flags and Blue Lives Matter Flags, [but] you don’t see any pride flags at all." The father did his research before hanging the flag outside his home. "The black and white bars represent the heterosexual and cisgender community, the allies... And of course the rainbow colors in the 'A' represent the LGBTQ+ community," he explained in follow-up TikToks. "[Caden] is the one who told us to buy this flag to show support for him... But I'm not above doing a little more research."

So far, the Wyatt have not received any feedback from their neighbors—positive or negative. This has been a relief as the family originally thought the flag would get stolen or vandalized. John stated, "We’re letting people know it’s a safe place. I’m not trying to cause any controversy in the neighborhood, but maybe there’s some person out there who will see that flag and smile and feel safe." The father hopes the flag is a reminder to others that they are not alone. "If they need somebody to talk to, I’m here," he affirmed. "And if they need a ‘dad hug,’ I’m here. If they’re local and they need to come over for dinner, whatever—our home is open to them."