HGTV Picks Anti-Gay Extremists For New Real Estate Reality TV Show

Homophobic, anti-gay Benham brothers - new HGTV stars

The husband and I watch HGTV a lot - perhaps almost more than any other channel on some days.  That may be about to change based on reports from Right Wing Watch that HGTV has hired twin brothers David and Jason Benham for a new show that has the brothers compete with each other as they help families find a fixer-upper homes that can be transformed into their dream home. The problem is that the brothers' father is a far right anti-gay extremist and the brothers have also reportedly engaged in anti-gay extremism.  It would seem that HGTV learned nothing from Mozilla's recent disaster.  Here are story excerpts from Right Wing Watch:

Last month, the HGTV network announced that it will launch a new reality TV show, “Flip it Forward,” starring David and Jason Benham. The twin brothers will “leverage their good-natured sibling rivalry to help families find a fixer-upper and transform it into the dream home they never thought they could afford.”

What the announcement didn't mention is that at least one of the Benhams is not just a real estate dealer but also a dedicated right-wing activist in the mold of his father, Flip Benham, who has headed the abortion-clinic protest group Operation Save America ever since it split from the militant anti-choice group Operation Rescue.

As leader of OSA, Benham has condemned the interfaith Sandy Hook memorial, protested in front of mosques while shouting “Jesus Hates Muslims” and blamed the Aurora shooting on the Democratic Party, which he said promotes a “culture of death.”

He has also protested LGBT pride events, interrupted church services during a sermon by “sodomite Episcopalian bishop” Gene Robinson and was found “guilty of stalking a Charlotte abortion doctor after passing out hundreds of ‘wanted’ posters with the physician's name and photo on it.”

Flip's son, David Benham, led a prayer rally — Charlotte 7:14 — outside of the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina in 2012, which he told conservative radio host Janet Mefferd was needed to stop “homosexuality and its agenda that is attacking the nation” and “demonic ideologies tak[ing] our universities and our public school systems”

He told Mefferd that his brother Jason joined him in organizing the DNC prayer protest.

David also discussed his work to pass North Carolina’s Amendment One, which enshrined a ban on same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state constitution.

I already knew in my heart as most all of us Christians in America know that we are in a very desperate spiritual situation and moral situation in our country, but it really hit home during Amendment One, so much so that when Amendment One passed I realized the only three counties in North Carolina that actually voted against the amendment were Charlotte, Raleigh and Asheville, our three cities. So we had all the rural areas and all the suburban areas but we lost all the cities. So I felt like, okay, it’s time that we have a citywide church service of repentance and that’s the reason that we decided to do it right in the heart of Charlotte the night before the DNC.

He also protested at a 2009 LGBT event [PDF] in Charlotte. He serves on the board of the Coalition of Conscience [PDF], a group led by far-right anti-gay activist Michael Brown.

The ADL also profiled his anti-Muslim activism:

David Benham, Flip Benham's son and an OSA spokesman, called the Islamic center a "den of iniquity," and referred to Muslims as "the enemy attacking" America. Benham, portraying the United States as a Christian nation, also drew this distinction: "The difference between Islam and Christianity: Islam takes life and enslaves it.

In a 2012 blog post on Operation Save America’s website, David likened the fight against marriage equality to opposing Nazi Germany:

I read an excellent article this morning by a former NFL player, Ken Hutcherson, on the political correctness of many evangelical organizations in America today. I share his same sentiment when it comes to Christian organizations appeasing evil instead of resisting it. In a desperate attempt to appear attractive and not “offensive”, an overwhelming number of Christian organizations in America have adopted a politically correct policy of appeasement in the face of evil instead of standing at the mid-point of biblical tension on the social issues of our day.

He also cited the Levitical death penalty for homosexuality to warn that marriage equality will destroy society, adding that gay men will never find true love.

WTF was HGTV thinking??  Yes, the Benhams are free to hold hideous views.  But HGTV viewers are also free to let HGTV know how heinous they believe people like the Benhams are.  Better yet, they can make it clear to HGTV that they will not watch the channel as long as it provides a venue for hate merchants like the Benham brothers.  

If you want to let HGTV know how you feel, e-mail them here.  Or call them at 1- 800-840-8056.