TV's gay Christmas movi on Lifetime and Hallmark are as benign, charmg and cliche as we always hoped they?d be - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• JONATHAN BENT WANTED TO CREATE A GAY UNCLE BUCK FOR THE HOLIDAY STER
• MAKE THE YULETI GAY WH THE NEW LGBTQ CHRISTMAS MOVI
• 10 QUEER CHRISTMAS MOVI TO MAKE THE YULETI GAY
• HALLMARK'S FIRST GAY CHRISTMAS MOVIE IS HERE — AND GEE KRISSA IS OVERJOYED TO BE A PART OF
• THE HALLMARK CHANNEL'S FIRST GAY CHRISTMAS MOVIE STARS 'MEAN GIRLS' JONATHAN BENT
• TV’S GAY CHRISTMAS MOVI ARE AS BENIGN, CHARMG AND CLICHE AS WE ALWAYS HOPED THEY’D BE

JONATHAN BENT WANTED TO CREATE A GAY UNCLE BUCK FOR THE HOLIDAY STER

And while a straight uple might be the protagonists the movie, ’s fely more queer than meets the one, the movie’s planng started at Los Angel’s famo gay bar the Abbey. It was there that An Unexpected Christmas’s gay executive producer, Matthew Brady, met out wrer Greg McGoon, who me up wh the story.

However, ’s a good first step that there are even enough movi for me to create this list of Hallmark movi wh gay characters. Most gay characters and upl the movi are whe and male.

MAKE THE YULETI GAY WH THE NEW LGBTQ CHRISTMAS MOVI

Let’s be clear, as of the start of 2021, no Hallmark movie has featured gay characters as leads.

No matter what official Hallmark reps say, The Christmas Hoe and Mix Up the Mederranean do not feature gay leads.

While I tly enjoyed The Christmas Hoe and loved seeg the happily married gay uple, they played send-fiddle to the ma straight uple’s romantic storyle. It jt so happens that Jeremy Jordan, who is playg that straight man is also playg his gay tw.

10 QUEER CHRISTMAS MOVI TO MAKE THE YULETI GAY

This do not qualify as a gay lead character, and dog the bare mimum isn’t enarg Hallmark to anyone. The only memorable thg about this movie was one of the only tim a Hallmark character has said “I am gay. Y, back 2012, Hallmark premiered a Christmas movie which the sister proclaimed she was gay.

At first, I thought was jt a way to keep a man om htg on her, but an earlier scene shows that she actually is gay.

It also had the most subtle ht of a gay uple I have ever seen on TV. This movie also marks the first time a gay uple has shared an on-screen kiss on any Hallmark work.

HALLMARK'S FIRST GAY CHRISTMAS MOVIE IS HERE — AND GEE KRISSA IS OVERJOYED TO BE A PART OF

Though there is no POC love tert as of yet, Dani McKellar’s Kayleigh was given a gay bt iend, which for Hallmark is a gigantic step forward. My only knock on the movie is how Hallmark attempted to market as the work’s first movie wh gay leads.

This is the send Kimberly Stad/Pl Campbell llaboratn that has clud a gay uple.

I love how they’re slowg chippg away at archaic notns of love one edy and one gay character at a time.

THE HALLMARK CHANNEL'S FIRST GAY CHRISTMAS MOVIE STARS 'MEAN GIRLS' JONATHAN BENT

In the movie, which buts Sunday, Bent plays Sam, a gay guy whose personal life suffers at the st of his profsnal life — work over marriage. '" Add to the formula the actor's love of the '80s classic Uncle Buck starrg John Candy, pl his sire to see a movie that was "really thentic to what 's like beg a gay man 2022.

TV’S GAY CHRISTMAS MOVI ARE AS BENIGN, CHARMG AND CLICHE AS WE ALWAYS HOPED THEY’D BE

" And that turned to me and my love for Uncle Buck, the movie wh John Candy that I grew up on, and I kd of put those ias together and I said, "What if Uncle Buck was gay?

Sam is beg really thentic to what 's like beg a gay man 2022 and what that experience is. As gay men, we're navigatg what our liv look like wh kids, or gettg married, or whout kids, and 's not black or whe — there's so many different avenu to startg a fay and havg a chosen fay.

Somethg I found so funny is how Sam realiz that Jason is gay — when Jason ments on Sam's sho.