{"id":18212,"date":"2023-07-10T11:34:42","date_gmt":"2023-07-10T15:34:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=18212"},"modified":"2023-07-10T11:37:22","modified_gmt":"2023-07-10T15:37:22","slug":"a-recovering-bigot-attends-first-pride-parade-apologizes-to-attendees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2023\/07\/a-recovering-bigot-attends-first-pride-parade-apologizes-to-attendees","title":{"rendered":"A ‘Recovering Bigot’ Attends First Pride Parade, Apologizes to Attendees"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"justin<\/a>
@kayliemillerrealtor\/Instagram<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Justin Nash felt the need to apologize. He wasn\u2019t sure if anyone at the Denver Pride Parade would welcome it, but he was convinced he had to try. After changing his lunch plans, he set out for the parade to share his apology, written in marker on a poster board, with as many people as possible.<\/p>\n

The 53-year-old sat in his wheelchair along the parade route, looking slightly out of place in a Texas Rangers ball cap and chinos. Still, he gave a sheepish smile and held up a sign for the brightly colored streams of passersby to see. His sign read, \u201cRecovering bigot. I am sorry!\u201d It added that Nash was offering free hugs.<\/p>\n

The marchers who passed through downtown Denver took him up on his offer, again and again, as onlookers cheered. One person said, \u201cYou are forgiven, and we love you and thank you.\u201d Another person gave him a necklace of rainbow-colored flowers. Videos and photos of the \u201crecovering bigot\u201d went viral as Nash\u2019s special message of humility and support resonated on social media. Nash told The Washington Post <\/em>he didn\u2019t do it as a stunt and didn\u2019t plan to attend the parade that day.<\/p>\n

Instead, Nash had driven to Denver with his wife from their home in Amarillo, Texas, to visit family. However, when he learned about the city\u2019s Pride parade, he saw the chance to continue a lengthy, personal journey. For about 20 years, he had been on a journey to unlearn beliefs about the LGBTQ+ community that he internalized from his past religious beliefs and family growing up in the Texas panhandle, beliefs he now regrets.<\/p>\n

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A post shared by Kaylie Lynn Miller (@kayliemillerrealtor)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n