And yet, it often feels as if their loving relationship has been sanded down or made more palatable for a more traditional viewership base. Like many of the network's hosts, Bynum and Thomas' chemistry comes through in the way they banter - with lots of pop culture references and subtle jabs - or butt heads over a project. Typically, their homes are priced in the $75,000 range (and they come fully furnished), a figure designed to appeal to first-time buyers looking for affordable housing. Working with shoestring budgets, Bynum and Thomas buy abandoned and dilapidated homes for as low as $1,000 and do the demolition and remodeling themselves, all while living in each house until it's ready to be sold by their friend Shea Hicks-Whitfield. Finally, in January 2021, it all came together when Keith Bynum and Evan Thomas became the first queer couple to land a multi-episode HGTV show, Bargain Block.īargain Block sees Bynum, a creative artist and designer, and Thomas, a construction expert, buy multiple houses on the same block as they work to revitalize a neighborhood in Detroit. Three years later, in the wake of the Gaineses' controversy, the network aired a pilot featuring its first married gay couple, PJ and Thomas McKay, and though Down to the Studs wasn't picked up to series, the McKays went on to partner with HGTV on a web series. In 2014, execs canceled Flip It Forward, hosted by brothers David and Jason Benham, after they said "homosexuality and its agenda" are "attacking the nation" at a rally in support of a North Carolina amendment that sought to prohibit same-sex marriage.
To be sure, HGTV has taken steps to address this problem over the past decade. it's so far from who we really are" - they have been careful to avoid any specific mention of Seibert or their views on LGBTQ+ marriage beyond generic platitudes about approaching every situation "from a position of love." While Joanna Gaines briefly discussed the matter in a 2021 profile in The Hollywood Reporter - "The accusations that get thrown at you, like you're a racist or you don't like people in the LGBTQ community. HGTV is proud to have a crystal clear, consistent record of including people from all walks of life in its series," the network said at the time. "We don’t discriminate against members of the LGBT community in any of our shows. For years, Chip and Joanna Gaines, who parlayed their success on Fixer Upper into Magnolia Network, have been dogged by questions about their involvement in the evangelical Antioch Community Church and their relationship with pastor Jimmy Seibert, who is staunchly anti-LGBTQ+ and supports conversion therapy.įurthermore, Fixer Upper's original run featured only straight homeowners when this fact came to light in 2016, HGTV issued a statement denying any intentional discrimination. (For many Americans, the concept of homeownership is a thing of the past, in large part due to the worsening housing affordability crisis.) While the network's biggest stars avoid explicitly discussing politics, many operate from a place of traditional social and religious values. It's no secret that conservatism is practically baked into HGTV's DNA. Even the throuple episode, which was initially well received, has since been criticized for offering a "sanitized version" of alternative relationships, with writer and social commentator Roxane Gay telling the AV Club, "Anyone who's hung out with polyamorists knows that's not representative of the community at all." Though HGTV currently has two LGBTQ+-led home renovation shows on the air - Bargain Block and The Nate & Jeremiah Home Project - they're drowned out by the overwhelming amount of programming featuring straight (and almost always white) duos released by the network and its parent streaming service, Discovery+.
Three years later, viewers are, for the most part, still waiting for that to come to pass. The episode, "Three's Not a Crowd in Colorado Springs," wasn't the first time House Hunters centered queer home buyers - it's actually one of HGTV's more diverse franchises - but it resonated with viewers, especially more optimistically-minded fans hoping the installment reflected a shift at the notoriously traditional network. In early 2020, HGTV staple House Hunters made headlines when it featured its first-ever throuple searching for the perfect home with a three-car garage and expanded bathroom. In Investigating Discovery+, Primetimer staffers and contributors comb through the Discovery+ catalog to identify hidden gems and take a closer look at breakout series.
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