McKinley McConnell and her mum Lisa talk about life after Harry Styles helped McKinley come out during a concert in Wisconsin. (YouTube/TheEllenShow/TikTok/@mckinleyyelizabethxx)
McKinley McConnell and her “proud” mum have opened up about the heartwarming moment Harry Styles helped the fan come out mid-concert.
McKinley McConnell went viral earlier this month after Styles helped her come out to her mum, Lisa, during the Milwaukee leg of Style’s Love On Tour concert series. The 23-year-old stood near the stage holding up a sign that read: “My mom is in Section 201. Help me come out.”
In the middle of the concert, the beloved singer and LGBT+ ally spotted the sign and ran over to help out. Styles briefly talked to McKinley before running across the stage to proudly declare: “Lisa, she’s gay!”.
McKinley and Lisa appeared on the Ellen DeGeneres Show to talk about the now-viral coming out moment. The Harry Styles fan told DeGeneres she felt “very overwhelmed” initially by coming out but now feels “so relaxed” since being able to live her truth.
“I feel authentic and true to myself,” McKinley said. “I feel the happiest I’ve felt in a long time so I’m just so grateful for everything that happened.”
Lisa shared she had also initially been “flooded with adrenaline and emotion” at the moment, and she couldn’t be prouder of her daughter for embracing her authentic self in such a beautiful way.
“I knew how she felt about this artist, and to share such an intimate part of her life with an entire venue, I was very proud of her,” Lisa said. “I love her very much for doing that.”
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McKinely admitted to DeGeneres that she didn’t initially plan to come out during the Harry Styles concert. Instead, she explained it was a “last-minute” decision.
“I had come out to my siblings a couple of months ago so I knew I wanted to come out to her,” McKinley explained. “It’s a very new, weird tradition at his shows that he’s started to help fans come out.”
Lisa recalled how she knew her daughter was secretly working on a sign for the show, but she said she had “no idea what she was going to say”. When Harry Styles read out the sign, Lisa said she “wanted to touch her so much and give her a big hug and tell her I support her”.