So much for making the yuletide gay. Hallmark Channel is rolling out a total of 40 original holiday-themed movies across Hallmark and its sister network Hallmark Movies & Mysteries — not one of which features an LGBTQ character taking center stage.
And Lifetime, the network’s closest competitor in the made-for-TV holiday movie space, has a similarly poor track record: Out of 30 new original Christmas movies, none feature primary storylines about LGBTQ couples.
LGBTQ characters have appeared in Hallmark and Lifetime movies past and present — this year, Lifetime has four movies which feature queer relationships in supporting positions — but none have carried a holiday movie of their own as the co-owners of a candy cane company or lovers in Dollywood or whatever the premise may be.