After being smacked around by a few heavy hitters on social media, the Hallmark Channel has apologized and vowed to reinstate a handful of previously removed LGBTQ-friendly wedding ads on its platform. The apology and reversal came after the company, known for its Christmas movies, was criticized by people like Monica Lewinsky, Ellen DeGeneres, and Andy Lassner.
Hallmark’s leaders had initially decided to remove the Zola ads after the conservative activist group One Million Moms — which represents a sizable chunk of the network’s target demographic — launched a petition denouncing the commercials as inappropriate for a family-friendly channel because of its “promotion of homosexuality.”
In the wake of the backlash, Hallmark has promised to work alongside the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD, to “better represent the LGBTQ community across our portfolio of brands in the future and to put LGBT characters in future programs and movies.”
One Million Moms is not happy with Hallmark Channel’s reversal and urged supporters of conservative family values to boycott the channel.
Things are even worse over at Netflix. They have just released a comedy that depicts Jesus as being gay. It portrays Jesus as a 30-year-old cursing gay man, returning home to visit Mary and Joseph, who are throwing him a birthday party. Jesus brings a man named Orlando to the party, and it’s presumed the two are a couple. At one point, the “God the Father” character propositions Mary for sex. It has sparked outrage and led to a petition that has amassed more than 1.8 million signatures. But a petition is not going to cause a change of behavior at Netflix. The only thing that is going to change their behavior is if people stop giving them their money.