Former Bigot Gives Out Free Apology Hugs at Pride

A TikTok user on Sunday captured a man at Denver Pride who claims to be a former bigot, giving out hugs to passersby. The man wore festive attire, and held a sign that read, “Recovering bigot, I am sorry! Free Hugs.”

The TikTok post has been liked almost 25,000 times and shared nearly 800 times. The post was accompanied by a message, “Thank you sir for owning up to prejudices & saying sorry! I wish everyone could learn something here. My heart is so full seeing the community so accepting of his apology.”

Not only did the man show up and get shared on TikTok, but his sign also popped up on author and columnist Jonathan Merritt’s Twitter account, where it’s been retweeted over 13,000 times.

Merritt’s tweet said, “For many Christians, #Pride month is a perfect opportunity to workout one’s confession and repentance muscles. A friend in Denver sent me this photo of a “recovering bigot” making flesh-on-flesh amends with the children of God he once maligned.”

The man and his sign were some of the highlights at Denver Pride, attended by over 500,000 people. It was the first Pride March in the area since the Colorado Springs shooting at Club Q in November

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