Lesbian daughter thought dad would never accept her identity - until he gave her ultimate gift on her wedding day

Receiving love and acceptance from a parent can mean a lot to a child. But a lesbian woman had given up on receiving either of those from her dad. Gradually, things changed and she received a beautiful surprise from her dad on her wedding day. The woman, u/SoDamnUnoriginal, shared her journey with her dad along with a picture of them together on her wedding day on Reddit.

In the picture, the dad was tying the woman's bow tie for her. The caption read, "My Dad, who 7 years prior put me in gay conversion therapy, helping with my bow tie moments before officiating my wedding to my beautiful wife." In one of the comments, the woman shared that it was not an easy journey for her. "I lost myself for a long time. It took 7 years to truly forgive my Dad (and myself) for being gay." She pointed out that the picture was a result of a lot of "pain and agony" that eventually led to a beautiful moment. "I'm not perfect, I still harbor anger and hurt. I'm only human. But I do forgive my Dad and I am happy he was a part of my special day." The daughter expressed that she has learned to be better to her future children after seeing her dad's mistakes.

The woman revealed that her dad eventually changed his ways because he missed her. "I had pushed him out of my life for years and he didn't want to lose me forever." She added, "He was a Southern Baptist preacher for many years and used to preach that homosexuality was a sin and all gay people would go to hell." But when the man witnessed the love his daughter and her wife had for one another, he realized that his beliefs had been wrong all along. "The love he saw between my wife and me helped him realize that love is love...no matter if it is between a man and a man, a woman and a woman, or a man and a woman." People applauded the woman and the father in the comments section and shared their own experiences.

u/jxlecler wrote, "All of this... gives me hope. My father is NOT a good person and he and I have started to fall out of touch because he's abusive to everyone around him. My mother and I are super close, but she's still adjusting to my sexuality. We haven't talked about it in a while, but last time we talked, she wasn't comfortable coming to a wedding. This gives me hope that I will at least have my momma there, maybe even my father if he can learn to grow. So, thank you for sharing a moment of your special day and sharing hope. Thank you."

u/crispy430 commented, "I’m proud of you for growing. I’m proud of your dad for growing as well. Kudos to you both for moving forward. My story isn’t nearly as extreme as forced conversion therapy, but my parents are both preachers and had their own very strong opinions when I came out. Let’s just say that by the time I met my beautiful wife, they both came around and loved her intensely as well. Sadly, my dad couldn’t be a part of my day (he passed), but I carried his uniform hat while my mom and brother walked me down that aisle. It was nice and affirming."