HGTV Pulls New Home-Flipping Series After Report Arises Determining Its Stars As Anti-Gay Activists

HGTV Pulls New Home-Flipping Series After Report Arises Determining Its Stars As Anti-Gay Activists

After the group Right Wing Watch reported the doubles that star in HGTV's just recently greenlit truth series Flip It Ahead are anti-gay lobbyists, the network stated today it had actually provided the hook to the series, which was set to debut in October. Yesterday, HGTV claimed it was \"currently in the process of assessing all info regarding the Benhams and we will certainly give an update as soon as possible.\" Then came a tweet today:

Extreme right Watch reported Tuesday that David Benham had led a prayer rally outside of the Autonomous National Convention in Charlotte, NC in 2012, in which he informed traditional radio host Janet Mefferd that America's Christian majority must repent for tolerating \"homosexuality as well as its agenda that is assaulting the country\" and also \"demonic ideological backgrounds tak [ing] our universities and also our public institution systems.\" He also stated his brother had actually joined him in the petition protest. The team also asserted David leads objections beyond abortion centers.

HGTV announced at its upfront presentation last month in Los Angeles that it had actually gotten the home-flipping series concerning siblings David and also Jason Benham. The network's description of the show at the time: \"After a decade of turning residences for profit, siblings David Benham as well as Jason Benham currently assist households buy the houses they never assumed they can afford. In each episode, the men aid a deserving family members discover a fixer-upper and transform it into their permanently home-- with a healthy dose of brother or sister rivalry between the siblings along the road.\" At the exact same discussion, HGTV additionally revealed it had actually greenlighted a style competitors reveal from Ellen DeGeneres.

Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy enters gay-marriage dispute

It's not on a daily basis that the leader of an industry steps into a national discussion that has the potential to annoy a lot of its consumers.

However Dan Cathy, president of the popular junk food chain Chick-fil-A, has actually done just that, saying on a radio program that \"we're welcoming God's judgment on our country when we shake our clenched fist at him and say we know better than you regarding what makes up a marriage. And I pray God's mercy on our generation that has such a prideful, egotistic perspective that believes we have the audacity to redefine what marital relationship is all about.\"

Adhering to reaction after those comments, Cathy then informed the Baptist Press in a write-up posted July 16 that he is \"guilty as billed\" and also is very \"supportive of the household-- the biblical interpretation of the family unit.\"

Reaction has been strong as well as swift. Bloggers sounded off. Celebs guaranteed to boycott Chick-fil-A. Followers of the company responded on Twitter and Facebook with every little thing from support to disgust.

Chick-fil-A's Christian values is currently extensively known. The chain, which has more than 100 locations in Virginia and greater than 50 in Maryland, is closed on Sundays, pipelines in hymns on the grounds surrounding its head office and has previously come under attack from lesbian, gay and bisexual and transgender teams for contributions made by the business's foundation.

So why have Cathy's remarks triggered such a stir? On the one hand, you can argue leaders of organizations, particularly exclusive, family-owned ones, ought to be able to speak their minds. But when a business leader elects to take a public as well as singing placement on a hot-button political problem in a political election year, he or she additionally risks losing the assistance of most of its customers. It is something to be a company that \"run [s] on biblical concepts\"-- remaining closed on Sundays, making contributions to groups it supports, continuing to be debt-free. But it is fairly an additional to indicate that individuals that sustain same-sex marriage-- much of whom are undoubtedly customers-- have a \"prideful, arrogant mindset.\"

Cathy's comments would certainly have been less explosive, if still controversial, had he made them a minimum of a little bit more well balanced, as he had in the past. In January of in 2015, he informed the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: \"we're not anti-anybody,\" adding, \"our mission is to produce raving fans.\" The business additionally released a statement to the paper stating that \"while my household and I count on the Biblical definition of marital relationship, we love and respect anybody who differs.\"

For leaders of firms with a national, diverse customer base, that's possibly where it should be.