Former HGTV star Chip Gaines issued a pointed response to conservative critics angered by the inclusion of a same-sex couple on the brand new collection “Back to the Frontier,” which he government produces along with his spouse, Joanna Gaines.
“Talk, ask qustns, listen.. maybe even learn. Too much to ask of modern American Christian culture,” the previous “Fixer Upper” co-host wrote Sunday on X. “Judge 1st, understand later/never It’s a sad sunday when ‘non believers’ have never been confronted with hate or vitriol until they are introduced to a modern American Christian.”
Although Chip Gaines’ publish steered away from specifics, he and Joanna Gaines have in latest days weathered backlash for casting Jason Hanna and Joe Riggs on “Back to the Frontier,” which debuted final week on Magnolia Community and HBO Max. In accordance to press notes, the collection spotlights three households as they “reimagine their lives as 1880s homesteaders, challenged to forgo the comforts of the present day for a more analog life on the frontier.”
Hanna and Riggs are based mostly in Texas and run a well-liked Instagram account, 2 Dallas Dads. They share 10-year-old twin sons, Ethan and Lucas.
Chip and Joanna Gaines don’t seem on “Back to the Frontier,” however are concerned within the present as government producers. The couple ― who’re affiliated with the Antioch Neighborhood Church, a nondenominational, evangelical church based mostly in Waco, Texas ― drew ire from some Christian conservatives who deemed Hanna and Riggs’ household “unbiblical.”
“I hope this isn’t true, but I read today that Chip and Joanna Gaines are featuring a gay couple in their new series. If It is true, it is very disappointing,” Franklin Graham, the son of the late evangelical pastor Billy Graham, wrote on X. “While we are to love people, we should love them enough to tell them the truth of God’s Word. His Word is absolute truth. God loves us, and His design for marriage is between one man and one woman. Promoting something that God defines as sin is in itself sin.”
Courtesy of Magnolia Community
Ed Vitagliano, the vice chairman of the American Household Affiliation, felt equally.
“This is sad and disappointing, because Chip and Joanna Gaines have been very influential in the evangelical community,” he mentioned. “Moreover, in the past, they have stood firm on the sanctity of marriage regardless of the personal cost that has entailed.”
He added, “We aren’t sure why the Gaines have reversed course, but we are sure of this: Back to the Frontier promotes an unbiblical view of human sexuality, marriage, and family –– a view no Christian should embrace.”
The couple’s stance on the LGBTQ+ group has been the topic of ample media discourse over time. A 2016 BuzzFeed report described the Antioch Neighborhood Church as being “firmly against same-sex marriage,” additionally mentioning that “Fixer Upper” had not but included a queer couple.
Talking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2021, nevertheless, Joanna Gaines shrugged off claims that she and her husband have been anti-LGBTQ.
“The accusations that get thrown at you, like you’re a racist or you don’t like people in the LGBTQ community, that’s the stuff that really eats my lunch — because it’s so far from who we really are,” she mentioned. “That’s the stuff that keeps me up.”
On Tuesday, Riggs publicly thanked Chip and Joanna Gaines for “leading with love, listening and learning” on his Instagram Tales. In an interview with the LGBTQ+ information outlet Queerty final week, Riggs mentioned he was initially hesitant to seem on “Back to the Frontier,” however ultimately obtained “on board with the whole concept of continuing to normalize same-sex families.”
“That’s one of the reasons we put ourselves out there, because of our adoption issues and feeling the need that other families have other struggles still in other states,” he mentioned. “So it was just important for us to continue to spread that message.”
Watch the trailer for “Back to the Frontier” under.
