Are HGTV's Joanna and Chip Gaines Typical Anti-Gay Hypocrites?

One of the favorite tactics of anti-gay Christian zealots - hate merchants is actual a more appropriate term - is to the claim that they and their ignorance and hate based beliefs deserve to be treated with respect and tolerance even as they spread lies and hatred about LGBT citizens who are merely seeking the same civil rights that heterosexuals have enjoyed for centuries. Somehow in the bizarre world of the Christofascists their efforts to criminalize other citizens and strip them of civil rights deserves the same "tolerance" as the efforts of those who seek to end discrimination, mistreatment of others, the discarding of children by their "godly Christian" parents, and oppose to quack "experts" who claim that sexual orientation is as choice and can be "changed" if one merely resolves to "stop sinning."  If nothing else, the recent presidential election has served to unmask many who are seemingly more motivated by hatred of others, a desire to hold onto white privilege, and to inflict their religious views on all (for these folks, religious freedom only applies to them and no one else). Now, thanks to BuzzFeed we have learned that "Fixer Upper" stars Joanna and Chip attend a church headed by a stridently anti-gay pastor who opposes gay rights and support "ex-gay" conversion therapy that is condemned by every legitimate medical and mental health association in America,  As the piece also pointed out, the Gaines, unlike many of the remodeling and flip shows on HGTV, do mot work with same sex couples.  Here are highlights from the BuzzFeed piece:

Chip and Joanna Gaines’ series Fixer Upper is one of the most popular shows on HGTV. The couple has recently graced the cover of People magazine; their book, The Magnolia Story, has been on the New York Times’ best-seller list for five weeks; and they were the subject of a long profile in Texas Monthly that credited them with revitalizing the city of Waco, Texas, where the show is set and where their businesses are located. The couple are riding a wave of success, largely due to their charm and appeal. 

They are also, as they detail in The Magnolia Story, devout Christians — Joanna has spoken of and written about her conversations with God. (God told her both to close her store to spend time with her children, and then to reopen it a few years later.) Their church, Antioch Community Church, is a nondenominational, evangelical, mission-based megachurch. And their pastor, Jimmy Seibert, who described the Gaineses as “dear friends” in a recent video, takes a hard line against same-sex marriage and promotes converting LGBT people into being straight.

So are the Gaineses against same-sex marriage? And would they ever feature a same-sex couple on the show, as have HGTV’s House Hunters and Property Brothers? Emails to Brock Murphy, the public relations director at their company, Magnolia, were not returned. HGTV’s PR department did not respond to initial emails and calls. Two days after this story was published, they released the following statement: “We don’t discriminate against members of the LGBT community in any of our shows. HGTV is proud to have a crystal clear, consistent record of including people from all walks of life in its series.”
 Seibert clearly does not offer any wiggle room on the issue, as he says emphatically in his sermon: “Business leaders, you will have to be clear about who you are. And you will have to be willing to stand to lose even a deal or two or 

While Joanna and Chip Gaines have yet to directly respond to requests for comment, the usual suspects and "news" outlets like Breitbart, The Federalist and The Christian Post to name a few are rallying to the Gaines' defense and attacking the author of the BuzzFeed piece while fanning the flames of the carefully manufactured myth that American Christians are being persecuted.  Anything rather than admit the truth that what is really happening is that many - perhaps a majority in society - are finally saying "enough!" to the Christofascists' persecution of others.  In the sick minds of the Christofascists, being challenged about their centuries of mistreatment and persecution of others somehow equates to persecution.

As for Joanna and Chip Gaines, until they have the spine to publicly respond to the allegations, the husband and I will no longer be watching their show (which until now had been a favorite).  Their silence seems to be an admission that they support their pastor's foul and scientifically false views.  Yes, the Gaines are free to believe such horrible lies if they choose and attend a church that preaches hate - they reportedly attend the church this past weekend - but the rest of us are equally free to change channels when their show comes on and to avoid purchasing any merchandise connected to them.  Whether the Christofascists like it or not, freedom of religion is a two way street and Joanna and Chip Gaines may be about to receive a harsh lesson in that reality if they do not disclaim their church's toxic anti-gay lies.  They might even want to have a chat with the Benham brothers who destroyed their own careers.

From my own experience, sexual orientation is not a choice.  Embracing ignorance, anti-science myths, and hatred towards others in contrast is 100% a choice. 

Bigoted Twins Equate HGTV Show Cancellation to D-Day, Martyrdom and "Braveheart"

I often wonder what type of mind altering drug or head trauma (or form of  mental illness) afflicts the "godly folk" who seem to suffer from a level of self-absorption that one simply does not encounter among normal individuals - or even most high drama queens.  A case in point?   David and Jason Benham who were set to start a reality TV career on HGTV involving house-flipping until word got out that the two were nasty anti-gay, anti-abortion, and anti-Muslim extremists.  Once the true despicable nature of the evil twins got out, HGTV quickly killed the show.  Ever since the twins have been bleating and whining and playing the martyr card.  The Raw Story looks at the self-absorbed batshitery of the Benham twins.  Here are highlights:

A pair of anti-LGBT twins compared losing their proposed reality TV show to religious martyrdom, the D-Day invasion, and the movie “Braveheart” earlier this month at a religious right gathering.

“We just remember June the 6th, 1944,” said Jason Benham at the Road to Majority conference. “We know what happened at D-Day. We know what happened on Omaha and Utah beach. There’s something about those men that our dad taught us when we were kids, and he said, ‘Boys, don’t you ever run from bullets. You run toward the bullets.’”

HGTV called off its plans last month for a reality series “Flip It Forward” starring the brothers, who have compared same-sex marriage to Nazi Germany and taken part in rallies against LGBT and reproductive rights, after the pair’s views were publicized.

“There are cultural bullets flying, all over today, especially religious liberty, and what’s happening right now is many spiritual leaders, elected leaders, they are running from bullets,” Jason Benham said. “But there’s a remnant of people that are ready to stand and say ‘I’m not running from these bullets any more. I’m going to take this beach.’”

Right Wing Watch reported Friday that the Benhams took part in the June 20 gathering, which was organized by Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, and are scheduled to take part in the Values Voters Summit in September.

“Just like in the movie Braveheart, when all the Scottish Army was standing there, and they all had their gear on, and they were lined up and they were unified, and they were ready to fight but not a single one of them wanted to fight,” Jason Benham said. “And then as William Wallace and a few men rode in on horses with blue face paint on. They were ready to pick a fight, and what I see before me right now are a bunch of people with some blue face paint on – so let’s go get it.”

The brothers, who are the sons of anti-abortion activist Flip Benham, have portrayed themselves as victims who were silenced by satanic forces for voicing their Christian beliefs.

In my view, the Benhams are examples of what is wrong with conservative Christianity.  They are all about condemning and hating others and demanding religious freedom only for themselves.  It's small wonder that the under 30 generations are fleeing institutional Christianity.  If there is anything Satanic going on, I'd say its the Benhams and their modern day Pharisee allies.

David Benham Explains His "Love" For Gays By Claiming Gays Are Led By Satan

The anti-gay Benham brothers - who many mistake for looking like a gay couple.

Sometimes anti-gay bigots turn out to unwittingly be the best arguments in favor of LGBT equality.  For example, the late Fred Phelps probably opened more hearts and minds to gay acceptance that he ever contemplated.  And in the process Phelps likewise turned countless members of the Millennial generation against Christianity entirely.  With Phelps dead and gone, the Benham brothers seem to be stepping up to take on at least a part of Phelps' mantle of hate and bigotry.  Instead of shutting their mouths after being cut loose by HGTV, the Benhams seem hell bent on making the case as to why HGTV was smart to drop them and distance itself from these raging bigots as fast as possible.  Right Wing Watch, which first exposed the Benham brothers for the vile bigots that they are reports on their latest case of verbal diarrhea that underscores the correctness of HGTV's action.  Here are excerpts:

It has now been one week since we first wrote a post highlighting the anti-gay and anti-choice activism of David Benham, who was slated to host a reality TV show on HGTV with his twin brother Jason. After HGTV announced that it would not move forward with the brothers' planned reality show, the Benhams hit the conservative media circuit to claim they were the victims of a "smear campaign" filled with "complete lies,"  though neither the Benhams nor anyone else has actually bothered to explain how anything we originally reported about them was in any way false.

The bulk of the defense offered for the last week by David and Jason Benham of their past activism has been that they do not hate gay people but only hate "homosexuality and its agenda that is attacking the nation,"which is pretty much the defense offered by most of the anti-gay bigots we monitor on this blog. David Benham previously alleged that the "homosexual agenda," along with abortion rights and Islam, is controlled by "demonic forces and agendas."

Last night, they took that talking point onto Glenn Beck's television program where they repeatedly asserted that they are not at war with gay people, but are rather engaged in a spiritual war against Satan and demonic forces that are out to silence Christianity.

David added that, as Christians, they are "called to restrain evil so that good may flourish" and that is the role they are trying to play in America by taking a stand against the "demonic agenda to suppress the truth.

As past events have proven, often the loudest homophobes are those who are in reality self-loathing closet cases.  In the case of the Benhams, they doth protest way, way too much in my book 

Bigoted Benham Brothers Lie and Play the Victim Card

True to form, the Benham brothers and their Christofascists sympathizers are whining and shrieking that the two flaming bigots are being persecuted for their religious beliefs.  Even more stunning is the fact that they are claiming that HGTV cancelled their planned show because of lies and misinformation.  Funny how being shown in a video making heinous remarks about others somehow constitutes "misinformation" of what one said.  These anti-gay, anti-Muslims, anti-women extremists were done in by their own verbatim statements and ugly beliefs.  Right Wing Watch comments on their unbelievable effort to play the victim card:

When HGTV pulled the plug on a reality TV show starring North Carolina real estate dealers and brothers David and Jason Benham following a Right Wing Watch report on David’s anti-gay, anti-choice, anti-Muslim activism, David Benham insisted that the network withdrew support due to misinformation and “lying,” asserting that neither he nor his brother “hate homosexuals.”

Although Religious Right activists have been rushing to defend Benham, none has yet been able to explain how Right Wing Watch’s list of verbatim quotes from Benham constituted misinformation.

In fact, the interviews we featured in our post are just examples of Benham’s large portfolio of right-wing activism. Since writing our original post, we have found several other examples of Benham’s extremism.

Benham’s group refers to abortion rights as a “holocaust” and said that “the devil” was behind Roe v. Wade.

In a January 2012 interview, Benham explained his “love” for homosexuals when he suggested that gay people are under the control of “demonic forces,” arguing that once he succeeds in recriminalizing abortion, he will next defeat the “homosexual agenda” and Islam.

Benham was speaking with none other than Michael Brown, an anti-gay activist who has gone so far as to defend Uganda’s brutal homosexuality law and who leads a group which includes Benham as a board member.

As I have steadfastly maintained, with Christofascists like the Benhams, if their lips are moving, it is a safe bet that they are lying.  In their self-anointed godiness, they are somehow exempt from the Commandment that bars bearing false witness and lying.  Dan Savage also has some pertinent comments:

In a The Stranger blog post, Savage wrote that the “real story” behind the firing is “that we are rapidly approaching the tipping point that I've been talking and writing about for years.”

“Once upon a time white people used to be able to go on TV and say the most racist shit imaginable (argue against legal interracial marriage, argue in favor of segregation) and keep their jobs and be invited back on TV to say that shit a second time,” Savage said. “Then one day you couldn't say that shit (not on TV, at least) and keep your job and be invited back to say that shit again. Opinions that used to be considered 'respectable' were suddenly toxic career enders. We are rapidly reaching the same tipping point on LGBT issues. You can believe whatever you want, but you have to be careful when and how you express your anti-gay animus. Because it could cost you.”

“And David and Jason Benham just learned,” he added. 

Christofasists are not kind, nice or decent people.  Their beliefs deserve no deference or respect - thankfully more and more Americans are coming to see them for the monsters that they are. 

 

HGTV Cancels Homophobes' Show

Last evening I wonder in a post that has seen an amazing number of visits WTF was HGTV thinking when it signed on to a show featuring the vitriolically anti-gay Benham brothers.  My prior post highlighted some of what Right Wing Watch had discovered about the brothers. Obviously, someone did NOT research these guys.  The backlash from viewers has apparently been off the charts and HGTV just announced on Facebook that it is cancelling the show:

HGTV has decided not to move forward with the Benham Brothers' series.

One can only hope that heads will roll at HGTV for the failure of individuals to do any kind of vetting of the Benham brothers and setting the channel up for a PR disaster.  Meanwhile, it is a safe bet that the Benhams will be held up as the latest martyrs of "homosexual intolerance."

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.