• by Danielle Oster , Yesterday

Beauty and haircare retailer Sally Beauty is teaming up with a nonprofit organization to help bring mom hugs to Pride events across the country, at a time when some brand sponsorships for such events are disappearing.

Its partner, Free Mom Hugs, is a nonprofit devoted to supporting the LGBTQIA+ community through visibility, education and conversation.

Free Mom Hugs emerged out of the Oklahoma City Pride Festival in 2015, where founder Sara Cunningham—a Christian mother who had previously rejected her son’s sexuality for years after he came out to her offered hugs to anyone who made eye contact.

In a statement, Cunningham called the partnership with Sally Beauty “a powerful statement of visibility and affirmation," adding, "Together, we're creating spaces where authenticity is celebrated, beauty is inclusive, and everyone feels seen, valued, and loved.”

Sally Beauty and Free Mom Hugs will have a booth at local Pride events across the country this June, beginning with WorldPride DC 2025 Street Festival and Concert in Washington, D.C. on June 8. The activation will then move on to Dallas Pride Music Festival + Dallas Pride Parade on June 14-15. On June 29, they will have booths at three events: Denver PrideFest, NYC PrideFest, and San Francisco Pride Celebration.

Sally Beauty is also amplifying the voices of LGBTQ+ founders and creators across its digital channels, including: XMondo Founder Brad Mondo, Madison Reed Founder and CEO Amy Errett, and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alum Joey Jay.

Sally Beauty’s expanded Pride Month presence comes as other brands are pulling back from supporting Pride events, and the LGTBQ+ community more broadly. At San Francisco Pride, one of the destinations for the activation, major sponsors including Nissan, Diageo, Comcast, and Anheuser-Busch, withdrew from sponsoring the event this year—leaving event organizers scrambling to fill a funding gap left by the elimination of anticipated financial support. Other major Pride events across the country have faced similar challenges due to the withdrawal of longtime corporate sponsors, with Anheuser-Busch, for example, also eliminating its sponsorship of hometown St. Louis PrideFest after over 30 years.