Betrayal: Chip and Joanna Gaines cave to LGBT agenda

Cultural Christianity is largely dead, and cultural queerness is in. When the sources of cultural power move, people have a choice. They can remain committed to their convictions or they can abandon those convictions. Many have moved toward the new source of cultural power like moths to a flame.

This trend has been most notable in the Christian Contemporary Music scene (CCM). A number of artists, including Jennifer Knapp, Trey Pearson, and Vicky Beeching, came out as gay; others, such as Amy Grant and Dan Haseltine, came out supporting same-sex “marriage.”

For those with careers in the public eye, the choice is usually compelled. Those working even peripherally with the entertainment industry are targeted by LGBT activists with demands to endorse their agenda or express their support for “tolerance,” or face professional consequences. Some have bent the knee; others have not.

Initially, the famous TV couple Chip and Joanna Gaines of the home renovation HGTV show Fixer Upper held strong. In 2016 and again in 2021, media outlets like USA Today reported ominously that the couple, who also run the brand Magnolia, that “the couple, who live near Waco, Texas, attended a church led by a pastor that had been verbally against same-sex marriage.”

It is not news that a couple attends a Christian church in which the Christian position on marriage is “verbally” expressed, but news isn’t the point of these stories. The point is to put a target on the backs of the Gaines family to force either an endorsement of the LGBT agenda or trigger professional consequences. Activists wanted LGBT couples on Fixer Upper, full stop. In 2016, Chip Gaines responded with a tweet stating, “In times of trouble … you’ll find the Gaines family in church.”

It appears that Chip and Johanna have changed their minds. On their new show on their Magnolia Network Back to the Frontier, they abandoned biblical values and feature a same-sex couple and their two sons. Without irony, Chip posted a promo on X: “Y’all are going to love this show!! Social experiment + family time well spent … ” The phrase “social experiment,” of course, is entirely apt.

“This is sad and disappointing, because Chip and Joanna Gaines have been very influential in the evangelical community,” said Ed Vitagliano of the American Family Association. “Moreover, in the past, they have stood firm on the sanctity of marriage regardless of the personal cost that has entailed. We aren’t sure why the Gaines have reversed course, but we are sure of this: Back to the Frontier promotes an unbiblical view of human sexuality, marriage, and family.”

Sharayah Colter of the Danbury Institute concurred. “Depravity cloaked in niceness and old-timey vibes and descriptions of ‘family-friendly’ is the worst kind of depravity because it doesn’t just draw in the people seeking something edgy or rebellious,” she wrote, “it sideswipes the innocent minded who didn’t have any inclination toward knowing more worldly things until it was placed in front of them. Very sad and actually very dangerous.”

The eight-episode show was produced in partnership with HBO Max and puts three families in 1881 pioneer conditions without electricity, toilet paper, or any other modern amenities in order to help the participants gain perspective on the lives of their ancestors.

“Unlike Fixer Upper, which notably faced criticism for not including LGBTQ couples, Back to the Frontier intentionally features a gay married couple with two children, reflecting a purposeful choice by the Gaineses to highlight them as a legitimate family and the supposed love and affection they have for each other,” Protestia reported. The show features scenes of affection between the two gay men.

“What a punch in the gut. This is so sad. And no, we won’t be watching and neither will our kids,” Danny Burk wrote. “I have no interest in helping them mainstream perversion. I defended them on my blog when they got criticized for not featuring homosexual couples on their HGTV show. Not that it mattered that much to anyone, much less them. But I was still grateful for Christians doing something beautiful and excellent and wanted to see them flourish. Now it’s just sad and seems to have been in vain.”

It seems likely that including LGBT content was the price of partnering with HBO Max. Chip and Joanna Gaines decided that was a price they were willing to pay. They are not the first, and they will not be the last.