Hallmark Channel Makes History with 1st Movie about a Gay Couple: ‘We Are So Excited’
The Hallmark Channel will break new ground this Christmas season with its first-ever movie featuring a same-sex storyline as the plot’s primary focus.
The movie, The Holiday Sitter, will air on December 11 and tell the story of two men who fall in love. Although the Hallmark Channel has included LGBTQ characters in its films, this is the first one to feature a same-sex couple at the center of the story.
A Hallmark news release described the film this way: “Sam is a workaholic bachelor who babysits his niece and nephew before the holidays when his sister and her husband have to go out of town. Completely out of his element, he recruits help from their handsome neighbor Jason and finds himself in an unexpected romance.”
It stars Jonathan Bennett and George Krissa.
Bennett, who is gay, celebrated the groundbreaking film on his Instagram page, saying it will “make history.” He also is an executive producer of the film.
“Words can’t describe what it feels like to have Executive Produced and starred in such an incredible story that will mean so much to so many!” Bennett wrote. “A HUGE APPLAUSE to @hallmarkchannel and all the leadership and executives, they not only believed in this story but took such good care of it [and] championed it wholeheartedly the entire process. December 11 will be a very special day.”
The Hallmark Channel’s official Instagram page wrote underneath Bennett’s post, “We are so excited and cannot WAIT for Christmas!”
The movie’s announcement came the same month that rival network Great American Family announced that Hallmark favorites Candace Cameron Bure (A Christmas…Present, November), Danica McKellar (Christmas at the Drive-In, TBA) and Lori Loughlin (Fall Into Winter, January) will star in new original movies in the coming weeks and months.
Great American Family has tried to woo Hallmark fans by signing some of Hallmark’s top talent. Many fans of Great American Family, though, say they’ve junked Hallmark due to its more progressive/liberal direction – a subject that’s often debated on social media.
“I thank the Lord for GAC Family channel! I no longer watch ANYTHING on Hallmark channel,” one person wrote on Great American Family’s Facebook page when it announced its Christmas lineup.
“No more Hallmark Christmas movies for me, only GAC,” another person wrote.
On October 21, Great American Family will launch its 2022 season of holiday programming with new original movies every Saturday and Sunday. The Hallmark Channel’s own holiday programming season begins that same night.
Photo courtesy: ©FTiare
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
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