Earlier this year, Candace Cameron Bure (of Full House and Hallmark channel fame) left the Hallmark channel after starring in 30 something movies. She announced she was moving to a new channel, the Great American Family network, to focus more on faith-based projects. When asked about the network’s inclusion of LGBTQIA+ storylines in an interview this week, she stated that “Great American Family will keep traditional marriage at the core.”
She was fairly swiftly called out on social media for her comments, notably from JoJo Siwa who said, “Honestly, I can’t believe after everything that went down just a few months ago, that she would not only create a movie with intention of excluding LGBTQIA+, but then also talk about it in the press. This is rude and hurtful to a whole community of people.” Actress Hilarie Burton hit back even harder, calling her a bigot, and tweeting, “That guy and his network are disgusting. You too Candy. There is nothing untraditional about same-sex couples.”
Here’s the thing. Does Great American Family have the right to make any kind of programming they’d like? Yes. Does that make it kind or right or inclusive? No. Do people have the right to be hurt by this exclusion? Absolutely! And when someone lets us know they’re hurt by our actions, the right thing to do is to acknowledge it, apologize, and try to make it right. We need to start by believing them, not by doubling down and gaslighting them into thinking that they were wrong to be hurt in the first place.
Candace’s response to the backlash (I say “response” because it was absolutely not an apology) was to first blame the media for causing division, and then make it all about herself.
It absolutely breaks my heart that anyone would ever think I intentionally would want to offend and hurt anyone. It saddens me that the media is often seeking to divide us, even around a subject as comforting and merry as Christmas movies. But, given the toxic climate in our culture right now, I shouldn’t be surprised. We need Christmas more than ever.
A large part of the “toxic climate” in our culture right now is that there is still, in 2022, animosity and discrimination towards people in the LGBTQIA+ community. And when someone in that community steps up to say they are hurt by our words and/or our actions, we need to listen, and we need to do better. It is one thing to say that we love all people, but it’s another thing entirely to act in a way that directly contradicts those words. Words without action mean absolutely nothing.
Candace Cameron Bure uses her faith as a reason to exclude people. Let me be really clear when I say that I love God, and aspire to be like Jesus… but I completely and unequivocally disagree with people like Candace. Jesus loved – both the word AND the action – all people, but he especially loved those who were marginalized by the rest of society. Jesus was a model of what it meant to include, not exclude. He was a model of what it meant to accept people… not in a “love the sinner, hate the sin” kind of way, but in a real, genuine, “I accept you for exactly who you are, with no limits and no disclaimers.” Jesus was a model of what it meant to come together: Gay, straight, black, white, Christian, atheist… and everything in between.
I don’t doubt for a second that Jesus is not wringing his hands in distress over the depiction of same-sex relationships on TV. LGBTQIA+ people exist (yes, even among the Christian community!), and their stories, like their straight counterparts, deserve to be celebrated. This December, Hallmark is actually airing its first film with a leading same-sex couple, starring Jonathan Bennett of Mean Girls fame (love him). I am thrilled to see this for a few reasons, but mainly because it means that people spoke up. People spoke up, and instead of turning it around or getting defensive or using faith as a reason to exclude…
they listened.
