Uncle comes to niece's rescue after homophobic dad refuses to walk her down the aisle

An uncle has been applauded for offering to walk his niece down the aisle because of her father's homophobia.

In a post to Reddit's "Am I the A**hole?" forum, the 43-year-old man explained the strained relationship he has with his twin brother and his wife. He explained they are both conservative Christians who disowned their 25-year-old daughter when she came out as a lesbian when she was 17.

Due to this situation, the daughter lived with her grandparents for the rest of high school and they helped to pay for her to go to college.

"I tried to be a safe space for her because she's a great kid with a bright future ahead of her and her now-fiancé is basically already my other niece," the man wrote.

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He then detailed how his brother and his wife have tried to reconnect with their daughter in the last two years. The pair have attended therapy and have "made some progress".

His niece is getting married in six months and "really wants" her parents to be at the wedding.

"They, however, still say that this is a 'mental block' for them," he said.

The man described how his niece's father (also his brother) is angry at him for offering to walk the bride-to-be down the aisle iStockphoto by Getty Images

"They've actually asked her to move the wedding back so they have more time to adjust to the idea of her being married to another woman."

To which the man described their views as "bull****" and offered to walk his niece down the aisle instead - but this didn't go down well with his brother.

"My brother has... take[n] issue with this. He showed up in a huff and demanded to know where I got off undermining his relationship with his daughter, why I would try to push him out, he has the right to 'give' his own daughter 'away,' etc."

The man also noted how his 16-year-old son came out, and that he and his wife are supportive of him and notified his brother of this fact.

"I reminded him that my son is gay, too, and I need to make sure that he knows he's safe with us, and I'd be doing a pretty p***-poor job of doing that if I took my braindead homophobe brother's side over my niece's," he added.

"Here's where I may be the a**hole: he asked if I was saying that my relationship with my son is more important than his relationship with his daughter. I responded, "Yes, because I don't have to see a f****** therapist to teach me how to love my own f****** kid."

The man's wife told him that he should have "probably have handled that better," while his parents are annoyed with him and say "I need to be more understanding of my brother and my sister-in-law because they have a lot to unlearn that I don't."

Meanwhile, his 51-year-old sister said he needs to "judge less and listen more," and then concluded by asking if he was the a**hole in this situation.

Since sharing his dilemma, several people have commented with their thoughts and overall, they seem to have decided that the poster was not the a**hole.

One person said: "NTA. She came out as lesbian all these years ago and her parents are still having an issue with it?"

"Your niece is lucky she had your parents and your family because what your brother did to his daughter was unforgivable, and you guys may very well have saved her life. NTA," another person wrote.

Someone else added: "NTA You told your brother the truth, and the truth hurts. He chose to throw away his relationship with his daughter as she didn't fit the mould in which was suitable for her parent's lifestyle and as such he now has to continue to accept the consequences of his actions and if he needs a therapist to teach him how to love his daughter then too bad for him."

"NTA. He already gave his daughter away," a fourth person commented.

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