An update on a life-changing moment that happened at the Harry Styles concert, at Fiserv Forum Wednesday November 3rd.
We first introduced you to McKinley McConnell, 23, the day after the concert.
The Milwaukee-native who now lives in Los Angeles, is a die-hard Harry Styles fan. She flew in for his show in Milwaukee and visited her family in Hartford.
She got her mom, Linda Bibik, a last-minute ticket to the concert and decided to use the event as an opportunity to share some important personal information.
The moment went viral, and while much of the attention was on McKinley, we reached out to her mom – whose reaction at the concert won the hearts of thousands of people.
It was a moment McKinley and her mom Lisa will never forget. Harry Styles picked McKinley out of the crowd:
Styles - “Do you want to tell your mom?”
McKinley - “Can you tell her? She’s here in the crowd.”
Styles- “What’s her name?”
McKinley - “Lisa”
Styles - “Lisa, she’s gay!”
Styles had noticed McKinley’s poster which read: “My mom is in Section 201. Help me come out.”
Lisa knew her daughter had brought a poster but did not know what it said. McKinley decorated the poster at home in Hartford, but told her mom not to look, that it was a surprise.
Lisa did see the gold glitter around the poster as McKinley made it, and she noticed two words written on it: “My mom.” Lisa assumed it said something like “bring my mom down to the pit.” She had no idea, the message on it involved her daughter’s sexuality.
“When Harry Styles was starting to read some of the posters in the crowd, I was watching on the jumbotron, and I could see the gold glitter,” Lisa said. “I started saying to all the people around me, that’s my daughter, that’s her poster!”
Lisa says it took a minute for the message on the poster to resonate because she was so excited her daughter had a personal interaction with her idol, Styles.
“Then I got the message, and it was just such a beautiful moment,” Lisa said. “Ultimately, you just want your children to be happy. You want the basic human rights - to be loved and have joy and happiness, with whomever they would like. I admire her courage. And to make that announcement at such a positive, uplifting event was so memorable. The whole crowd cheered.”
Lisa and McKinley hugged and talked for hours after the concert.
"I'm so blessed to have both my parents be super supportive,” McKinley said. “Afterwards, my mom just kept telling me how much she loves me, and how proud she was of me."
