ICYMI: Hallmark Just Made a Huge Promise to the LGBTQ Community
By: Shannon Ashley
Tags: Equality, Business, Culture, LGBTQ, Entertainment

Recently, the Hallmark Channel made headlines for pulling a series of Zola ads which included two women kissing on their wedding day. The decision was made in response to conservative complaints, and Hallmark CEO Mike Perry has since apologized and reinstated the ads.

While I commend Perry for publicly stating they made the wrong call, it’s difficult to take his apology seriously. After all, Hallmark is well-known for producing saccharine-sweet content that typically jives with a conservative Christian worldview.

In his statement, the Hallmark CEO made one very lofty promise:

"Hallmark will be working with GLAAD to better represent the LGBTQ community across our portfolio of brands."

Now, that could mean a lot of things. Hallmark is based in Missouri, which, let’s face it, is hardly the most progressive part of the midwest. I spent most of my pregnancy in Springfield, MO and as a native Minnesotan it was a real culture shock.

I wasn’t so surprised by the Amish community as I was by the attitude most Christians had about helping those who were less fortunate. As a pregnant unwed mother in crisis, many churchgoers lectured me on the evils of welfare programs. Several complained that people on food stamps were loading up their carts with shrimp and lobster. Such a claim is, of course, patently false, but it illustrates the backwards feel to much of the state.

And among Hallmarks portfolio of Kansas City-based brands?

Hallmark Greetings (greeting cards, gift wrap and related products, many of which would be considered Christian, religious, or “inspirational.”

Hallmark Retail (more than 2,000 stores operated in the US, Canada, England, Ireland and Scotland, along with their website hallmark.com).

Crayola (art materials, children’s toys, and the Crayola Experience attractions).

Crown Media Family Networks (Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, and Hallmark Drama, the e-books division of the Hallmark channels, Hallmark Publishing, and the streaming service Hallmark Movies Now).

Crown Center (a real estate development company).

In reading the complete Hallmark statement from their website, I’m confused. The company claims to “affirm” their commitment to inclusivity. They also go so far as to say they’ve always stood for diversity and inclusion. Wait… what?

“Hallmark is, and always has been, committed to diversity and inclusion – both in our workplace as well as the products and experiences we create. It is never Hallmark’s intention to be divisive or generate controversy. We are an inclusive company and have a track record to prove it. We have LGBTQ greeting cards and feature LGBTQ couples in commercials. We have been recognized as one of the Human Rights Campaigns Best Places to Work, and as one of Forbes America’s Best Employers for Diversity. We have been a progressive pioneer on television for decades – telling wide ranging stories that elevate the human spirit such as August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson and Colm Tóibín’s The Blackwater Lightship, both of which highlight the importance of tolerance and understanding.”

Is Hallmark seriously trying to convince us that they’ve been a beacon of progressive entertainment all this time?

I decided to check those receipts. First of all, let’s begin with those elevating stories.

In 1995, Hallmark released a made-for-TV movie based on August Wilson’s play, The Piano Lesson. So, they are name-dropping a 25 year old film which has nothing to do with the LGBTQ community. Apparently when they talk about diversity and inclusivity, it’s all the same thing, right? Because they made a movie about black people from a black playwright, somehow, they’ve always been committed to inclusion of the queer community too.

Yeah, that sounds tone deaf.

Colm Tóibín’s The Blackwater Lightship, on the other hand, actually has an LGBTQ angle, and the movie came out just fifteen years ago… but tell me if this sounds at all familiar.

“The story is set in Dublin and County Wexford and described from the viewpoint of Helen, a successful school principal living with her husband and two children in Ireland. She learns one day, that her brother Declan, who is homosexual, has been ill with AIDS for years, and refused to tell her until then. He asks her to deliver their mother and grandmother the news. This presents a challenge to Helen as she has had minimal contact with either woman due to deeply buried conflicts relating to Helen’s past and her father’s sudden death when she was a child.

As the three women meet again they are forced to overcome these struggles for Declan’s sake. The novel follows the painful journey they must take in order to correct the misunderstanding that exists between them.”

Something about Declan’s character in the film seems more like a plot device to tell a story of three generations of women. It’s not his story, not really. Which is likely why their faces are featured on the movie posters, not his. And frankly the fact that Hallmark released a supposedly gay story in 2004 feels like they were just late to the party when it comes to covering the Aids hysteria of the 80s.

To further complicate Hallmark’s commitment to inclusivity is this fabulous article questioning what even makes a gay story. In it, the author asks, “Does the presence of a queer character in a literary work automatically make it a gay literature?”

And then they specifically bring up the novel upon which Hallmark’s film is based:

“This questioning of the factors that shape the genre of LGBTQ literature was recently sparked after I finished reading Colm Tóibín’s 1999 novel entitled The Blackwater Lightship–mostly because I’ve had difficulties assessing whether it is a gay novel. The novel has a central queer character, which at first seems to be a good enough reason to approach it as a gay novel. However, the main themes and tensions present in this work are triggered through the queer character’s presence, but they are not exactly centered on this queer character per se.”

The point is not that The Blackwater Lightship is a bad story. The point is that it’s a story that was easy for Hallmark to use gay themes without really taking a stand for a message of LGBTQ inclusion.

It’s the type of story where the viewer can get whatever they want to get out of it, based upon their particular worldview. And it’s really not so far away from the often repeated Christian saying, “Love the sinner, hate the sin.”

So, sure, you might say that Hallmark produced an LGBTQ-friendly film back in 2004. But to be fair, they told the one type of gay story that’s most palatable to conservative Christians. A story where the gay man is just a character and not the character. A story where the gay man is dying from aids and it’s up to the rest of the family to get along and be more “loving.”

But Christian love and inclusivity are rarely the same thing.

Moving on, I want to know more about these LGBTQ greeting cards.

Much to my surprise, Hallmark indeed has an LGBTQ section for greeting cards on their website. Hey, I think that’s great, but I also don’t think it tells the whole story. Does it?

Unfortunately, the selection of 80 items dwindles down to 21 when I select “in-store” pickup. Keep in mind that these paltry numbers are supposed to include wedding cards, anniversary cards, baby shower cards, birthday cards, encouragement cards, sympathy cards, and thank yous. Which means there is still very little choice in this section.

And did I mention that the closest store with LGBTQ cards is 55 miles away from me in Georgia?

We’ve got Hallmark stores here in Tennessee. Two are within 20 miles of me. But perhaps they just aren’t feeling the same love.

Of course, 80 total cards is likely considered progressive in Hallmark’s playbook. This 2014 story in Time Magazine talks about the year the company’s publicist proudly told them the company offered a whopping two LGBTQ Valentine’s day cards. Two.

“This year, Hallmark offers two cards in our in-store Valentine’s Day selection that are specifically created for same-sex relationships — titled ‘Love: Man to Man’ and ‘Love: Woman to Woman’ — and they are labeled that way in the display. There are other relevant Valentine’s Day cards that would be appropriate for same-sex relationships as well as other romantic relationships. They would be found in the display under titles like ‘Love for Him / Her,’ ‘Man / Woman I Love’ and ‘For My Partner.’”

One thing Time’s writer points out is that even the supposedly LGBTQ cards are frequently generic and nondescript.

You might say that Hallmark has been taking the easy way out.

Offering something because for some folks, that’s better than nothing. That still doesn’t mean they stand for inclusion as anything more than a half-hearted cash grab.

Let’s face it. Although many companies have been criticized for jumping on the PRIDE bandwagon, a company which implements a whole-hearted cash grab is at least more likely to stand for inclusion than a company which is still afraid to rock the boat.

Hallmark’s knee jerk pull-reverse-pull reveals them to be just that: afraid. In the CEO’s full statement, Hallmark doesn’t want to cause controversy or division. But as we all know, inclusion is both controversial and divisive as we head into 2020.

As Trish Bendix writes, “Hallmark can’t have it both ways — it can’t treat the LGBTQ community as a source of profits while simultaneously telling us we are too controversial to exist.”

Exactly.

Is Hallmark really such an inclusive employer?

That’s a bit of a loaded question. It’s true that Forbes has named Hallmark a good place to work for women. But “women” are simply one aspect of diversity, and those Forbes lists are based upon employee surveys.

It’s entirely possible for many women do feel comfortable and happy with their employer. But that’s hardly the proof of an inclusive company.

And actress Hilarie Burton says Hallmark is anything but:

The proof is in the pudding, obviously. While Hallmark can adopt as many diverse or inclusive initiatives as it likes behind the scenes with its employees in its offices and shops, Burton and so many others are calling out Hallmark for its lack of authentic PDA to the gay community.

Zola and the Human Rights Campaign have each made an optimistic response to Hallmark’s apology. But that doesn’t mean Hallmark won’t try to keep doing business as usual.

If Hallmark wants to cash in on telling progressive stories, they actually have to start telling progressive stories. So far, they have largely ignored queer people, and I am skeptical that the CEO even realizes what he just promised to the gay community this week.

After all, representation isn’t about adding in token characters who exist to propel or add interest to your straight-laced plots. If Hallmark is serious about its commitment to inclusivity and diversity, it is way past time for gay leads and LGBTQ-driven stories during their primetime slots.

Anything short of dramatic and clearly progressive steps forward should be considered a breach of contract.