14 DAY TRIAL // TLC stands for The Learning Channel, and the network takes pride in all its reality shows, which it deems explorations into alternative lifestyles. Some times, this means shows about people “addicted” to sniffing dead people’s ashes or drinking pee, or about overweight rednecks, or morbidly obese people getting their last chance in life at losing weight.
This Sunday, this will also include a new reality show called My Husband’s Not Gay, which tells the story of several couples from a Mormon community in Idaho, in which the men admit to being attracted to other men – but insist they are not gay because they choose to be married to women and lead straight lives.
The network is being harshly criticized because of it.
“This show is downright irresponsible”
The premise of the show is to illustrate how one’s orientation is entirely a matter of choice, because these men, who aren’t ashamed to admit that they are attracted to other gents, choose to stay with their wives and their families.
As such, they don’t identify as gay. Moreover, they say that the strength to do “the right thing” comes from their faith, from knowing that playing into their desires and urges would be against God’s teachings.
TLC and the producers are now criticized for basically telling the world that being gay is a choice, that you can “pray the gay away” if you really want to.
GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis says that such a show can’t but do damage to the LGBT community by misrepresenting the situation of one’s orientation.
“This show is downright irresponsible,” she tells ABC News (video below). “No one can change who they love, and, more importantly, no one should have to. By investing in this dangerous programming, TLC is putting countless young LGBT people in harm’s way.”
What with so many teens taking their own life because they believe there is something wrong with them for being different than what they’re expected / “supposed” to be, the last thing the world needs right now is a show that seems to stress that.
Cancel the show
Almost 90,000 people agree that TLC is doing the world (and the LGBT community) a disservice with this new show, all of whom signed a Change.org petition started by gay Christian Josh Sanders. Before coming to terms with the fact that he was gay, Sanders was put through “reparative therapy” and told that faith could make him straight – so when that didn’t happen, he started questioning his worth, and more importantly, if he deserved to live anymore.
He doesn’t want others to go through this kind of pain, so he’s writing to TLC to let them know that, if they do air this show, this is what they might cause in some members of the audience.
“[It is] a TV show that promotes the false and dangerous idea that gay people can and should choose to be straight in order to be part of their faith communities,” he writes in the text. “The men featured in this show deserve to be shown compassion and acceptance. Perhaps even more importantly, TV viewers need to know the horrific consequences of trying to change who you are.”
As it happens, this is neither the first nor the last time that a TLC show generates so much controversy and even prompts a few petitions asking for a cancelation. Previous efforts have failed to make network bosses budge on their stance, but only time will tell if this one stands a chance of success.
