Hallmark is celebrating the inclusion of a same-sex couple in its Christmas movie lineup for the sixth consecutive year.
This year’s featured film, christmas baby, is set to premiere on Hallmark Channel on December 21. The plot revolves around a lesbian couple who face “new relationship and career dynamics” after finding a baby boy left at their door, as described in Hallmark’s summary.
The plot summary goes on to explain that as the couple cares for the baby—whether temporarily or while searching for a permanent family—they begin to contemplate adoption themselves, navigating the intricate world of adoption during the bustling Christmas season.
The second film, Keller’s Christmas Vacation, was released on November 9 and tells the story of a family taking their adult children on a European river cruise. Among them is a gay son who had just proposed to his boyfriend, though he was advised to hold off on the wedding. Eventually, the boyfriend joins them on the trip.
Hallmark’s synopsis notes that this holiday adventure is filled with nostalgia, new friendships, beautiful landscapes, relationship challenges, budding romance, family bonding, and a secret that brings everyone together for Christmas.
Hallmark first introduced a same-sex couple in a Christmas movie in 2020 with christmas house, which features two brothers returning to their hometown, where one is gay and married to a man.
However, the presence of LGBTQ+ characters has led some traditional Hallmark fans to switch their allegiance to competitors like great american family, which promotes a more traditional family-oriented narrative centered on “faith, family, and country.”
When Candace Cameron Bure was questioned by The Wall Street Journal in 2022 about the possibility of including an LGBT couple in a story for Great American Family, she expressed her intention to focus on traditional marriage.
“I think the Great American Family will continue to focus on traditional marriage,” Bure stated.
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Photo credit: ©Hallmark Channel
