Magnolia Network Stars Spark Religious Backlash with LGBTQ Family Portrayal

Former HGTV stars Chip and Joanna Gaines are facing backlash for their new reality show which features a same-sex couple.

“Back to the Frontier,” a show about three American families who attempt to survive as 1880s homesteaders, debuted on HBO Max on July 10. The Gaines are executive producers of the Magnolia Network series, the cable network they co-founded with Warner Bros. Discovery, which was promoted as featuring “family-friendly unscripted programming.”

After clips of the show were shared on social media, the Gaines’ were criticized by conservative Christian pastors, organizations and media commentators over the show casting two Texas dads and their 10-year-old twin sons, who were born via a surrogate.

Critics claimed the Gaines were promoting an anti-biblical lifestyle while they’d built a media empire professing their Christian faith.

Reverend Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, called the casting decision “very disappointing.” (Read more from “Magnolia Network Stars Spark Religious Backlash with LGBTQ Family Portrayal” HERE)

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