Is The Hallmark Channel Making Good on Their Promise to the Queer Community?
By: Shannon Ashley
Tags: Television, Equality, Culture, LGBTQ, Entertainment

Is The Hallmark Channel Making Good on Their Promise to the Queer Community? Shannon Ashley Follow Nov 23 · 8 min read

Hallmark Entertainment

Barely a year ago, I wrote about Hallmark’s disastrous decision to pull a Zola commercial which happened to feature two women getting married. They swiftly pulled the ad in response to Conservative outcry against the so-called “gay agenda,” and then promptly apologized for that choice in response to the resulting backlash.

Last December, Hallmark learned a difficult lesson — nobody can play both sides forever. As long as Hallmark considers their brand a family-friendly space, they’ve got to decide if they’re for all families or only some of them.

And last year, Hallmark declared that they would choose inclusion, despite the protest of many Conservative voices. I should note, though, that there have been queer characters in Hallmark movies before. But their stories have definitely been sidelined and subdued.

Over the summer, Hallmark made a baby step into greater diversity by including its first gay wedding ceremony in one of their films. Of course, Wedding Every Weekend was still a decidedly heterosexual story. It focused on two people — a man and a woman — who fall in love as they attend four weddings in one month.

That said, the inclusion of a wedding ceremony between two women was a meaningful moment for many people, and it managed to spark the predictable outrage from those who don’t want to see queer romances on TV at all.

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Tweet text:

@hallmarkchannel: Get ready to watch an ALL NEW original #SummerNights premiere! See if sparks fly when Brooke @kimberleysustad meets Nate @ThePaulCampbell and they realize they’re attending the same weddings all month long. Tweet with us while you watch #WeddingEveryWeekend Saturday at 9pm/8c! https://t.co/haifTmiZte Blessed: Nope. Hallmark was the only network families could watch without politics & social justice being pushed down our throat. Disappointed they caved to a few people. Millions of people viewers will not watch anymore. @hallmarkchannel: We are proud of our movie, Wedding Every Weekend. Our priority at Hallmark Channel is to develop a broad mix of content, characters and stories in order to create a Hallmark experience where everyone feels welcome.

Well, now, just three months later, Hallmark’s Conservative critics have something else to complain about. This year’s countdown to Christmas lineup features a gay couple that’s much more front-and-center.

The Christmas House stars Hollywood veterans Treat Williams and Sharon Lawrence, with Robert Buckley from iZombie and One Tree Hill, Ana Ayora from Captain Marvel, Jonathan Bennett from Mean Girls, and Brad Harder from Aurora Teagarden Mysteries.

Its ensemble cast tells the story of three different couples at Christmas. One couple happens to be two men who are trying to become parents. It’s understandable that some people will still feel frustrated that the movie isn’t solely focused on the gay couple. I get that. On the other hand, others will appreciate the benefits of including a queer romance among two others. There’s a normalizing effect which means they’re just another couple at Christmas.

According to Buckley, who co-wrote and pitched the film to Hallmark, this was all by design:

“This feels like something that should have happened 20 years ago. I’m glad it’s finally happening. When I pitched the movie, I think it was the second thing I said because I wanted to be very upfront about it. It was really important to me that we show a gay couple in the exact same way we’d portray a straight couple. To me it was overdue. “Pitching it, I pretty much led with that. I was thinking if they’re not on board, it’s cool, we’ll know right away, and also what a great reason to get shot down. But the opposite happened. Kate Redinger, an executive on Love in Store, had heard about this family tradition I had (of completely transforming our house for Christmas) and reached out to ask if I’d be interested in going to lunch and talking about it. I did, and she saw a movie there. So, a big tip of the hat to Kate as she was instrumental in this thing getting off the ground. “I said, ‘I want my brother to be gay, married, and to show him and his husband doing all the things we’d show straight couples doing.’ They were like, ‘Great, let’s go further with that!’ I said, ‘How about they be in the process of adopting a baby?’ They replied, ‘Great!’ Throughout the development process, it was, ‘Give us more’. So, it was perfect timing. Hallmark was ready to change it up, and I was happy to get the opportunity to be the one to do it. “It’s not by accident that the gay couple has all their ducks in a row. We didn’t want to shine a spotlight on them and make it be like a big thing. Just show them as a couple. It’s interesting as my character Mike is coming apart at the seams and his parents are having troubles, while his brother has it together.”

Hallmark made a very smart move by completely bypassing any coming out story and instead showing the couple already out, already married, and already accepted by their loved ones. That’s not to say coming out stories don’t matter — they do! But in terms of inclusion and treating gay characters like real people instead of token ones, this is the right move.