Jonathan Bent on Hallmark's gay Christmas movie The Holiday Ster |

Contents:

• MAKE THE YULETI GAY WH THE NEW LGBTQ CHRISTMAS MOVI
• JONATHAN BENT WANTED TO CREATE A GAY UNCLE BUCK FOR THE HOLIDAY STER
• HALLMARK PREMIER S FIRST LGBTQ HOLIDAY MOVIE WH A GAY LEAD UPLE

MAKE THE YULETI GAY WH THE NEW LGBTQ CHRISTMAS MOVI

For Lifetime, which last year had “The Christmas Setup, ” the channel’s first-ever movie starrg gay leads, the move was a big one: the premiere of “Unr the Christmas Tree, ” s first movie featurg lbians as the uple at the center of a holiday romance. Meanwhile, Hallmark ma a smaller step by settg “The Christmas Hoe 2: Deck Those Halls, ” a sequel to 2020’s “The Christmas Hoe, ” which featured Jonathan Bent and Brad Harr as a gay uple lookg to adopt.

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

The dispary between the extents to which the Christmas-obssed ble channels are focg on LGBTQ holiday ntent 2021 is nsistent wh their rpective cisns ma on the matter last year, when Lifetime st a gay uple as leads “The Christmas Setup” and Hallmark featured s first homosexual uple as part of an ensemble “The Christmas Hoe. “Even though we’ve got ‘Unr the Christmas Tree, ’ which is a real highlight, we’ve got several others the mix that are clive, whether they’re gay upl or jt characters, we’ve been tryg to make sure that people are reprented across the board, ” Lifetime head of programmg Amy Wter told TheWrap durg an Oct. When “The Christmas Setup, ” Lifetime’s first-ever movie starrg gay leads, played by married--real-life uple Ben Lewis and Blake Lee, buted last year, Wter told TheWrap she had been lookg for a project starrg LGBTQ leads for some time, but was very agast somethg “really sacchare.

“The fact that big Hallmark — the greetg-rd divisn — overturned Bill Abbott’s cisn on the Zola ad shows that the pany is ser about diversy their mographics, and we’re seeg lots of baby steps the 2020 and 2021 movi wh gay and lbian B-stori. (Durg the Abbott era, spottg a queer uple was like tryg to fd a gay character a 1940s movie that somehow slipped past the Productn Co.

HALLMARK PREMIER S FIRST LGBTQ HOLIDAY MOVIE WH A GAY LEAD UPLE

The tradn ntu 2021, wh films starrg RuPl, Michael Urie, Jonathan Ben and more — pl appearanc by gay favor like Jennifer your holiday season bge-watchg ssns acrdgly wh the upg movi and specials.

2, NetflixTony-wng director Michael Mayer (“Sprg Awakeng”) helms Netflix’s first gay holiday film, which se perpetually sgle Peter (Michael Urie) beggg his bt iend, Nick (Philemon Chambers), to e home wh him and pretend to be his boyiend to put an end to his fay’s nstant meddlg.

But the se is put to the tt when his mother (another gay fave, Kathy Najimy) sets him up wh her hunky traer (“Brothers and Sisters” actor Le Macfarlane) to “Sgle All the Way” for stg three out actors as gay characters — and for stg Jennifer Coolidge, perd. 3, NetflixFormer nttants return to the tents for a pair of holiday-themed episos: In “The Great Christmas Bakg Show, ” out ic Tom Allen subs for Noel Fieldg to -host wh gay prenter Matt Lus as season ne’s Jon Jenks and Kim-Joy Hewlett and season 11’s Herme and Rowan Williams whip up wondro Yuleti treats.