Christian mother wore rainbow sash and walked son down the aisle at his wedding
'I wanted my son, and his husband, and every other gay that was there at that wedding, to know that I love them, and the God I believe in loves them'
By Steve Brown
Words: Steve Brown
A Christian mother wore a rainbow sash and walked her son down the aisle at his wedding.
Vanessa Hill, from Melbourne, became close to her son Lachlan after the death of her husband Matthew – her son was eight at the time – and she watched him grow up to be a professional choreographer.
However, when Lachlan came out, his religious mother struggled with it at first but when he got engaged to his partner after Australia legalised same-sex marriages, she says she cried after her son told her.
After she prayed to God for answers she believed a voice told her: “I gave up my son, so you don’t have to.”
So she walked her son down the aisle while wearing a rainbow sash showing her solidarity with the LGBTQ community.
In her own blog, she shared images of the day and wrote: “I knew that I loved my son, and nothing would ever stop me from loving my son.
“But I had some thinking and some praying to do. Lots.”
From then, she vowed to love her son no matter what and vowed to make her son’s wedding day unforgettable.
While speaking to the Metro, she said: “Because in the end, love wins. I had bought the sash specifically for the wedding and wasn’t sure if I’d use it.
“Lachlan had always joked that he hoped I’d be waving the gay pride flag one day. It’s such a sensitive issue and I’m very intentional in what I do, so I needed to be sure my message was consistent and well thought through.
“When I put on the sash, it was both a sign of the promises of God and the acknowledgement of gay people being loved and accepted.
“I raised a toast to love because it seems to be the thing that the church has forgotten is what we are called to be in the world – not judgmental but loving.”
Vanessa also opened up about how she was accused by some other Christians of not being true to her faith but said she wanted every gay person at her son’s wedding to know that she loved them.
She continued: “Everyone was in tears. I wanted my son, and his husband, and every other gay that was there at that wedding, to know that I love them, and the God I believe in loves them.”
Images from Vanessa’s blog.