Hallmark’s The Christmas House director talks gay kiss scene amid One Million Moms row
"I understand that, for some of the audience, the kiss is definitely pushing them to a potential limit"
The director of Hallmark’s The Christmas House – which debuted over the weekend amid a One Million Moms-organised boycott – has spoken about the film’s gay kiss scene.
Michael Grossman’s movie stars Mean Girls’ Jonathan Bennett as one half a gay couple who reunite with family for the holidays.
The Christmas House, which features an ensemble cast, premiered on the Hallmark Channel in the US yesterday.
“I know what the reputation of the Hallmark Channel is”
Speaking to the LA Times, Grossman said: “Look, I know what the reputation of the Hallmark Channel is, and what a lot of people across the country expect it to be.
“I’m hoping that some percentage of these people might just be able to squint their eyes a little bit and learn something about people being people, and people loving each other. And that it isn’t all the things they might imagine it to be.”
Grossman – who is also gay, and has also directed episodes of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Charmed – added: “I understand that, for some of the audience, the kiss is definitely pushing them to a potential limit.
“But, you know, limits need to be pushed sometimes.”
On a dedicated boycott and petition page on its website, a One Million Moms say of Hallmark: “The once conservative network has caved to LGBTQ pressure and has done a one-eighty from the wholesome content the channel once aired, and the network is now catering to the Left.”
Almost 23,000 people have signed up.
Grossman’s comments follow actor Kristen Stewart recently calling her new “gay Christmas movie” Happiest Season a “huge exhale.”
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