Brandon Perea Is Gay Free Expression And

Although Bennett is gay, the former Mean Girls star is used to playing straight roles opposite Hollywood actresses -- particularly within the conservative, often formulaic genre of holiday films.

The Christmas House, released last month, is the first Yuletide film from the Hallmark Channel to prominently feature a gay couple -- Bennetts character Brandon and husband Jake (Brad Harder) are trying to adopt a child.

It is one of a groundbreaking batch of high-profile same-sex storylines appearing in prominent Christmas movies this year, including Kristen Stewarts Happiest Season, which has broken premiere records for streaming service Hulu.

I imagine what younger me would have thought, sitting there watching a movie that had characters in it that looked like me, that were in relationships like I wanted to be in when I got older.

In a trend dubbed the gayest Christmas ever by pop culture website Decider, Lifetime this month also released The Christmas Setup and Paramount aired Dashing in December.

Stewarts Happiest Season has drawn the most attention of all, thanks to its star-studded cast that also includes Mackenzie Davis, Alison Brie, Aubrey Plaza, and Dan Levy.

Director Clea DuVall, who is gay, said she had never seen my own experience represented in holiday movies, with LGBTQ characters usually in the background if they feature at all.

Produced by Sony and sold to Hulu as the pandemic keeps theaters closed, it claims to be the first holiday rom-com about a same-sex couple from a major Hollywood studio.

Last year, the family-oriented channel was slammed by LGBTQ groups after buckling to conservative pressure by removing adverts for a wedding company that featured a same-sex couple kissing at the altar.

With The Christmas House, the company has gone a step further.

Although Bennett and Harders storyline is just one of three interwoven romantic plots in the film, they kiss on-screen before either of the straight couples.

When we did our first kiss, the crew was just so overwhelmed -- there wasnt a dry eye, Harder told AFP.

The trend has drawn wide praise, with Bennett reporting thousands of messages from grateful fans and Harder expressing hopes for a sequel to The Christmas House.

But it has also drawn criticism -- including from some LGBTQ viewers.

Happiest Season centers on a lesbian couple struggling to come out to highly traditional parents -- a storyline some critics found old-fashioned, and which should not define them as characters.

By contrast in The Christmas House, the fact that my character is gay, married to a man, never comes up once in the film, said Bennett.

But, Harder pointed out, Christmas for the LGBTQ community is particularly challenging, especially for those whose family members are not super accepting.

And while Happiest Season might take a different approach, the important thing is that movies let everyone have a seat at the holiday table, said Bennett.

Brandon Perea Is Gay Free Expression And

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