Harry Styles Helps Fan Come Out to Her Mom at Milwaukee Show

Harry Styles helped a fan come out as gay to her mother at his sold-out Milwaukee show Wednesday.

Photo: Brady Jager

McKinley McConnell, 23, brought a sign to the Milwaukee stop of the British pop star’s “Love on Tour” at the Fiserv Forum that read, “My mom is in Section 201. Help me come out.”

Styles took time out of his set in between songs to interact with fans and read signs. He chuckled while reading song-related puns, Green Bay Packers references and cheese curd jokes. However, Styles seemed intrigued when he encountered McConnell in the general admission pit.

The former One Direction star got down on one knee to talk eye-to-eye with McConnell. 

“Do you want to tell her or should I tell her?” Styles asked. “I can tell her if you’d like.”

McConnell could be heard in a video of the interaction that she would prefer him to do it. 

“There’s a lot of people,” McConnell said while laughing nervously. 

“There is a lot of people,” Styles said, grinning. “Did you not know? Did you think this through?”

While running to the other side of his circle-shaped stage to find McConnell’s mother, Styles hummed a tune to build suspense. He asked for the lights to shine on section 201 and for everyone “besides Lisa” to sit down. 

“Lisa, she’s gay!” Styles screamed to McConnell’s mother in the upper-level seats. 

The crowd of 17,000 erupted with joy as Lisa could be seen on the jumbo-screens bursting into tears. She jumped up and down with happiness. The cameras panned to McConnell, who was having a similar reaction with her friends front-row.

“I don’t want to ruin the moment,” Styles said, interrupting the uproar of cheers. “Wouldn’t it be dearest if you were a little bit closer together?”

The mother-daughter duo was on completely different sides and levels of the arena, but the love from the two could be felt across the building. 

Photo: Brady Jager

The show continued as Styles danced with a pride flag that was thrown on stage to his song “Treat People with Kindness.” Emotions were high for the remainder of the night as Styles sang his hits such as One Direction’s “What Makes You Beautiful” and his first solo number-one song on the Billboard charts, “Watermelon Sugar.”

Videos from the encounter made noise on social media platforms. In response, McConnell shared a tweet directed to Styles. 

“Thank you for creating a safe place for me,” she wrote. “Thank you for letting me grow alongside you as a fan. Thank you for helping me know who I am. Thank you. @Harry_Styles  #LoveOnTourMilwaukee #LoveOnTour #SHESGAY.”

Twitter users responded to the clip and tweets from McConnell.

“As someone who doesn’t know if she’ll ever be out to her parents, this whole interaction was heartwarming and made me cry,” one commenter wrote. “I am so proud of you and happy for you. Hugs xx”

McConnell posted three videos from her experience on TikTok. Each surpassed 1 million views, with one garnering 2.3 million. 

“THE best moment of my life,” McConnell captioned one of the videos. 

Fans from across the world flooded the comment sections with admiration and kind words. TikTok user @madelinecwklo was one of the 3,000 that commented. 

“Congratulations,” commented @madelinecwklo. “I was right by your mom and the whole thing brought me to tears. So happy for you.” 

“I was sobbing my eyes out and everyone around me asked if I knew you,” TikTok user @lauren.michelle98 said. “All I could say was no, but I’m so happy for you.”

This is not the only time that Styles has helped a fan come out as a part of the LGBTQ+ community. On the same tour in October, the singer assisted a young girl in coming out as bisexual in Connecticut. 

“When I raise this flag you’re officially out, heard that’s how it works,” Styles said in the Mohegan Sun Arena. “She’s out!”

Styles has been an active advocate for the LGBTQ+ community, especially at his live shows. However, he does not find it necessary to label himself sexually. 

“Being in a creative field, it’s important to be progressive, ” Styles said in a 2017 interview with the Sun. “Everyone should just be who they want to be.”