Dad Offered Hugs At Pride Parade For Youth Whose Parents Abandoned Them

Jun 15, 2019 by apost team

Even though Scott Dittman is a father of two, this past weekend he was the surrogate father to over 700. Scott (also known as Howie) attended Pittsburgh Pride on Saturday and for two and a half hours gave out hugs for attendees who could use them.

Wearing a shirt that said “Free Dad Hugs,” Scott tagged along with his friend who is part of an organization called Free Mom Hugs. Little did he know that his visit would give the LGBTQI+ attendees a much-needed boost and validation from their substitute dad. In fact, he said the experience changed his life:

"You go in thinking you're just going to put a smile on a few peoples faces, and you come out knowing or understanding their struggle," Scott told CBS News, "It was life-changing, it really was."

Scott further wrote about his experiences on a Facebook post that has since gone viral with over 320,000 reactions.

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In it, he wrote about the strangers he met and the stories they shared: One man was kicked out at 19 years old when his parents found out, and haven’t spoken to him since. Another hugger came all the way across the street just to meet Scott, and by the time she got there, she had tears in her eyes. Scott wrote about her like she was his own daughter:

“She stood in front of me and looked up at me, with a look of sadness and helplessness that I'll never forget,” he wrote, “She hugged me with everything she had. And I hugged her back. She held on for so long, melting into me, and thanked me endlessly.”

In a particularly poignant excerpt from his post, Scott reflects on what was under the surface of the hug. "Imagine that your child feels so lost from you that they sink into the arms of a complete stranger," he wrote. "Try to imagine how deep those cuts must be."

Scott told the press that since the post was made, he received over 1,500 messages which ranged in tone but mostly praised his actions. However, the influx did include one very distressing message from a person who wrote to say that the "day that they saw the post was going to be their last day on earth." Scott believes that words mean a lot and actually prevented a tragedy.

Scott is no stranger to volunteering or helping others. He founded Helping Butler County, a local group that connects volunteers with those in need. He is clearly a good human and told CBS "If we can just be cool and be good humans and do a good job as humans," said Dittman. "It won't matter if someone identifies themselves as gay or bi."

Watch more about Pittsburgh Pride in the video below:

Keep up the good work doing a good job as a human and setting the example to combat prejudice, Scott! Don’t you think others should know about his story? Tell them about this article.