Chip and Joanna Gaines, arguably America’s most beloved Christian couple, are prominently spotlighting a same-sex couple and their kids on a new show.
The Gaines‘ new series, “Back to the Frontier,” a reality show about families living an 1800s lifestyle, features Jason Hanna and Joe Riggs and their sons. In an Instagram post, Hanna isn’t shy about what it means for the couple to be on the show and promoting their lifestyle.
“We are extremely honored to be one of the three modern-day families going #BacktotheFrontier because visibility matters and [is] so important,” he writes.
Cue the backlash from Christians. Franklin Graham posted 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.”
American Family Association Vice President Ed Vitagliano said in a statement, “This is sad and disappointing because Chip and Joanna Gaines have been very influential in the evangelical community. Moreover, in the past, they have stood firm on the sanctity of marriage regardless of the personal cost that has entailed.”
In turn, Chip Gaines posted on X: “Talk, ask qustns [sic], listen … maybe even learn. Too much to ask of modern American Christian culture. 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,” he added.
Yet Chip Gaines’ own words seems to adopt the leftist talking points of assuming that opposing same-sex marriage is an act of hatred or vitriol—which is even more disappointing. Shouldn’t a Christian couple, even if they disagree, understand that Christians who support traditional marriage are generally motivated by concern for the eternal welfare of gay and lesbian individuals, not hatred?
How depressing.
For over a decade, the Gaineses, who rose to fame with their HGTV show “Fixer Upper” before pivoting to starting their own network, Magnolia, have been scrutinized over their views on LGBTQ matters.
“Fixer Upper,” which originally aired in 2013-2018, never featured a same-sex couple. In 2016, the couple came under fire from BuzzFeed when it reported that they attended a church that preached against same-sex marriage.
To my knowledge, the Gaineses have largely been silent on the issue publicly. In a 2021 interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Joanna Gaines said, “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. That’s the stuff that keeps me up.”
Magnolia Network, which launched that same year, included the show “Mind for Design,” which featured Brian Patrick Flynn, an interior designer who is public about his gay identity.
And to be fair to the couple, they still haven’t said whether they publicly support same-sex marriage—although it seems unbelievably naïve for such a savvy couple who are successfully running a TV network to be unaware that their promotion of a gay couple will suggest support for same-sex marriage.
Journalist Meg Basham also reported on X that Joanna Gaines had signaled support on social media in the past to a man who chose to live a gay lifestyle.
Basham screenshot a 2021 Instagram post from Billy Jack Brawner, where he wrote, “i was a gay little boy who grew up absolutely hating myself, and, I’m a gay man who is learning to absolutely love myself. i am so good. … i’m in love with a man who is so good. my life is so good.”
Joanna Gaines reportedly responded, “Yes … You are SO good. We love you.” (Neither Brawner nor representatives for HBO Max, which is airing the Gaineses’ “Back to the Frontier,” immediately responded to a request to confirm Basham’s reporting.)
Meanwhile, Chip Gaines suggested some willingness to consider his critics’ viewpoint.
Joel Berry, managing editor of The Babylon Bee, told Gaines on X, “You’ll see no hate from me. I’m just sad. I can’t let my kids watch your show now, since I’m trying to protect their eyes and hearts from the lies of the world—lies you’re now participating in.”
“Also, filter out some of the online vitriol and consider taking to heart some of the substantive concerns and heartbreak from the Christians who make up your fan base,” he added. “We should love the sinner—that doesn’t mean we celebrate and promote the sin and participate in the multibillion dollar industry dedicated to destroying the family.”
Chip Gaines’ response was telling—and maybe a sign of hope.
“Don’t be sad Joel … plenty of other stuff out there. I’m sure everyone will be fine,” he wrote. “BUT I sincerely appreciate the advice about taking some of the thoughtful, heartfelt, encouraging constructive criticism to heart … and I certainly will.”
The Gaines couple have been under pressure few of us can imagine for many, many years to concede on this issue. As we see from the many religious liberty cases involving same-sex marriage—most famously that of Jack Phillips, who had to go to the Supreme Court over his refusal to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple—many LGBTQ activists refuse to live in harmony with those who will not affirm same-sex marriage.
And yet in some ways, it is an odd time for the Gaineses to cave. The latest Gallup polling on same-sex marriage shows that 68% of Americans support it—the lowest number since 2021. And the Trump administration successfully refused to celebrate June as Pride Month.
Meanwhile, Christians will have to no longer assume that Magnolia Network content is safe for children or necessarily supportive of traditional values. Like many Christians, I’ve long supported the Gaineses, in part, because I valued their refusal to bend the knee. I enjoyed watching their banter on “Fixer Upper,” made the pilgrimage down to Waco, Texas, to check out Magnolia Market, and routinely perused their new arrivals at Target.
But now … they’re just another Hollywood couple.