A mother of the bride’s wedding speech has impacted thousands on and offline.
A clip of the speech posted to TikTok went viral as Maggie Hesketh, 30, married the love of her life. Her mother, Kelli Dalton, delivered a speech that she called the “gay agenda”—and left no dry eye in the house. Dalton and Hesketh spoke to Newsweek about the inspiration for the speech, and how it went over with the not-all-affirming wedding guests.
“I want to talk to you all tonight about the gay agenda,” Dalton began her speech, waving a Pride flag. What followed was a series of quotes about parenting, acceptance and true love.
Photos of Maggie Hesketh and her mother Kelli Dalton at Hesketh’s wedding. A video of Dalton’s speech has gone viral on TikTok.
@kelsielee4/TikTok
Dalton said that she has been poring over LGBTQ+ stories and advocacy ever since Hesketh came out.
“I have become extremely passionate about addressing the oppression of this community and using my privileged voice to attempt to educate others,” she said. “Being from a small southern town and very much raised in the Christian evangelical church, this has been quite a challenge with many of the people closest to me.”
Dalton said she felt the speech was a moment she “couldn’t pass up” to talk to her community about LGBTQ+ rights. Some people at the wedding, she said, really needed to hear it.
“Although most attendees were obviously affirming, I knew for a fact that some guests were there because they didn’t want to miss it and did want to offer a level of support, but in no shape or form were they true allies or advocates,” she said. “I also knew, from getting to know many in Maggie and [her wife’s] community over the past few years, that many of them sadly do not have family support. So, I was speaking to these two groups. Simply because there is nothing more important.”
Dalton said the main message she wanted to communicate with the speech was that gay weddings are not something to “concede” to, but something to wholeheartedly celebrate.
The speech landed meaningfully for Hesketh, who has been out to her mom since she was 19.
“I was totally immersed in listening to her words, taking it all in—knowing how incredible this message was for anyone to hear,” Hesketh said. “Especially […] for so many queer friends in the room that needed that reassurance and validation from a mother figure.
“I was also happy knowing that many adults in the room who may be supportive of me and my wife because they know and love us but may not show that support further than that or politically. I hoped that it made an impact on those people.”
A lifetime of support
Hesketh said she came out to her mother quite casually.
“I honestly just sent her a text to let her know I was dating someone, and that it was a girl,” she said. “She immediately responded with support and let me know that I had her love and support no matter what. And that was before she even really immersed herself in education and awareness of the LGBTQ+ community, so it’s only grown from there in terms of her support and advocacy.”
Hesketh said her mom has always supportive of whatever she came to her with—whether that be obsessions, fashion trends, music or more. The unconditional support, she said, is what led to a “pretty painless” coming out process.
Dalton’s support of her daughter, and her investment in the LGBTQ+ community, led her to form the thoughts in her speech—and wedding guests definitely took note.
“When at least 50 people come to you, sobbing and hugging you, explaining that your speech ‘healed them’ or that they’ve already sent it to their parents, or just how desperately they wish their mom would say these things, it’s extremely humbling as well as fulfilling,” Dalton said. “It was truly the most amazing moment of my life.”
For Hesketh, she said she was just grateful to have such a great mom. And there’s so much more love to go around.
“I’m more than happy to share her with anyone who needs her,” Hesketh said.
