It debuts nearly a year after Hallmark Channel pulled ads for a wedding-planning website that featured a same-sex couple kissing, then swiftly reversed the ban following public outcry. 12) and Paramount NetworkвЂ™s вЂњDashing in DecemberвЂќ (Dec. 25), LifetimeвЂ™s вЂњThe Christmas SetupвЂќ (Dec. вЂњThe Christmas House,вЂќ airing Sunday, is part of a bumper crop of queer-inclusive holiday fare this season, alongside NetflixвЂ™s вЂњA New York Christmas WeddingвЂќ (now streaming), HuluвЂ™s вЂњHappiest SeasonвЂќ (Nov. I thought, is this really happening? This is groundbreaking.вЂќ вЂњAnd then I read the script, and I was in tears. вЂњMy jaw practically hit the ground,вЂќ he recalled. (Prior yearsвЂ™ holiday slates, both on Hallmark Channel and its sister network, Hallmark Movies and Mysteries, were similarly straightforward.)ДЄs it turned out, BennettвЂs love interest wasnвЂ™t a woman at all: Instead, heвЂ™ll play half of the first gay couple highlighted in the networkвЂ™s heavily watched holiday programming. After all, the project hails from Hallmark Channel, whose annual вЂњCountdown to ChristmasвЂќ lineup of original movies - a seasonal mainstay both lucrative and beloved - included 23 titles in 2019, none featuring a gay couple.

When Jonathan Bennett was first sent the script for вЂњThe Christmas House,вЂќ his initial thought was, вЂњWhoвЂ™s my love interest? WhoвЂ™s my girl?вЂќ

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