The upcoming one-hour special about four men who are attached to men but refuse to be called gay is slammed for being 'downright irresponsible.'
- Jan 6, 2015
AceShowbiz - TLC takes the heat over their upcoming one-hour special "My Husband's Not Gay". Thousands of LGBT supporters have signed a petition to stop the show about four Mormon men who are attracted to men but do not identify themselves as gay. They are featured on the show along with their wives who are aware of their husbands' preferences.
"This show is downright irresponsible," GLAAD president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis says in a statement. "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."
Josh Sanders who started the petition on Change.org says that the show "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 claims it sends "the dangerous message that being gay is something that can and ought to be changed."
In the petition that has collected over 70,000 signatures, Sanders also recalls his experience growing up, "I was promised I could change, and told that I should 'pray the gay away,' In the end, the only thing that this so-called 'therapy' did was stoke a growing despair that maybe my life wasn't worth living."
The show was also being discussed on "Good Morning America". Robin Roberts said the "gay community is really fired up" about the show. "To even give the idea that it is a choice can be very dangerous especially to young people who are dealing with their sexuality and trying to figure things out."
Despite the protests, TLC still plans to air the show on January 11 at 10 P.M. The cable network comes to their own defense, "TLC has long shared compelling stories about real people and different ways of life, without judgment. The individuals featured in this one-hour special reveal the decisions they have made, and speak only for themselves."
Pret, one of the men on the show, explained to ABC News his same sex attraction ahead of the airing. "Every time I got to the core of who I am, I knew that I wanted to be married to a woman," he dished on. "I knew that I wanted children and I wanted to be a father and I want to be called 'Daddy' when I come home."
Another men, Jeff, compared it to one's preference to a certain type of food, "You could say I'm oriented towards doughnuts and if I was being true to myself, I would eat doughnuts a lot more than I eat doughnuts. But am I miserable? Am I lonely? Am I denying myself because I don't eat doughnuts as I might like to eat doughnuts? I'm not."
