HSBC Taiwan boss walks gay employee down the aisle after her parents refuse to come to wedding

When one lesbian woman’s homophobic parents refused to come to her wedding, the woman’s boss, John Li, CEO of HSBC Taiwan, stepped forward to be the one to walk her down the aisle.

“CEO John told us not to be nervous and to walk slowly,” HSBC employee Jennifer says in a video produced by the bank. “We cried because we never thought we would make it this far.”

Jennifer’s parents have always disapproved of her relationship with her longtime girlfriend. “Whenever my father sees Sam, he will push her out and tell her to get lost,” she confesses. For her father’s sake, Jennifer says she tried dating men, and even thought about having a fake marriage, but in the end she followed her heart.

At first, Jennifer was also worried that coming out would hurt her employer. “So I considered it very carefully, and realized that some clients were very supportive,” she says, adding that her boss and colleagues had all been very supportive about the wedding.

While the touching video was uploaded online by HSBC last month, it is only recently starting to gain attention. Grab some tissues and check it out below:

Though same sex marriage seemed to be on the cusp of legalization in Taiwan last year, that historic moment still has not yet come to fruition. Jennifer and Sam hope that by sharing their story, people will be encouraged to respect others’ differences.

As a company, HSBC has showed its support for gay rights before, unveiling a pair of rainbow-colored lion statues outside its office building in Hong Kong. Despite ferocious opposition from local anti-LGBT groups, the bank refused to take the statues down.