Harry Styles Suddenly Stopped Concert To Help A Fan Come Out To Her Mom
British pop star Harry Styles has been making a habit out of helping fans come out at his concerts.
At Wednesday’s sold-out stop on Styles’ Love on Tour show at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, a video captured McKinley McConnell holding up a sign that read, “My mom is in Section 201. Help me come out.”
McConnell, 23, was standing near the stage when the “Golden” singer turned the microphone toward her and asked, “What would you like to tell your mother?”
“Do you want me to tell her?” Styles can be heard asking. “I can tell her. Yeah, no problem, one second.”
Hustling over to the center of the stage, the singer shouted, “Lisa, she’s gay!” as thunderous cheers filled the 17,000-person arena.
McConnell told NBC News that she flew in from Los Angeles to see the show with her mom, who was seated in a different section.
“I literally got her the ticket so last minute,” McConnell explained of their distance. “I was lucky to get a ticket for the general admission pit for myself. I know my mom, and she wouldn’t have been up for the pit.”
McConnell, a political science student at California State University, Northridge, said her mom probably knew about her sexuality before she officially told her – or rather, had Harry Styles tell her.
“Afterward, she told me, ‘You always had a flair for dramatics,'” McConnell said. “I’m really beyond blessed that both my parents are so supportive. And I think they probably always suspected, even though you try to act like they don’t. She just kept saying she loves me and is proud of me.”
Getting caught up in a viral moment, though, was a little overwhelming for McConnell's mom.
“She cried. I didn’t expect her to cry that much – I think she’s just stunned by it all,” McConnell said. “She works in a school, and a few of her students came up to her today and mentioned it.”
McConnell posted the concert footage on Twitter early Thursday morning, calling it “a moment that will actually be with me forever.”
“Thank you for creating a safe place for me. thank you for letting me grow alongside you as a fan,” she wrote. “Thank you for helping me know who I am. Thank you. @Harry_Styles #LoveOnTourMilwaukee #LoveOnTour #SHESGAY.”
McConnell later tweeted that she was “texting my tattoo artist to see how [I] can get that entire interaction tattooed on me.”
“I followed One Direction; I’ve followed Harry from the start of his solo career. I’m still in a state of shock,” McConnell said Thursday afternoon. “It’s this mantra that fans have – that ‘the moment will come, and he’ll notice me.’ And you really believe it will happen. But when it does, it’s hard to process. It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I don’t see myself recovering from this for a full while.”
Fans on Twitter responded to the heartwarming clip with words of support.
“As someone who doesn’t know if she’ll ever be out to her parents, this whole interaction was heartwarming and made me cry,” one commenter wrote. “I am so proud of you and happy for you. Hugs xx.”
Styles’ concerts have become something of a safe space for young LGBTQ+ fans: Last month, he helped a young woman named Lexi come out as bisexual at his show at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Arena.
Read related myGwork articles here:
High School Musical Star Joshua Bassett Comes Out After Praising Harry Styles
Harry Styles' New Song Has Ben Characterized As A ‘Bisexual Bop’ By Fans
Keep up to date with the latest myGnews
