TLCTLC has another controversy on its hands. The network's new special, My Husband's Not Gay, has come under fire from GLAAD. The new special follows a group of Mormons "who are happily married and attracted to their wives," according to a press release for the show. But, the men are "also attracted to other men." However, the men in the TV special refer to their feelings as "Same Sex Attraction" and do not identify as gay. And this is where the controversy comes in.
"This show is downright irresponsible," Sarah Kate Ellis, GLAAD president & CEO, said in a statement. "No one can change who they love, and, more importantly, no one should have to. By investing in this dangerous programming, TLC is putting countless young LGBT people in harm's way."
The network issued the following statement in response to the outcty: "TLC has long shared compelling stories about real people and different ways of life, without judgment. The individuals featured in this one-hour special reveal the decisions they have made, and speak only for themselves."
More than 70,000 people have signed a Change.org petition urging TLC not to air the special. Josh Sanders, the man behind the petition, said the show "promotes the false and dangerous idea that gay people can and should choose to be straight in order to be part of their faith communities."
Sanders identifies as a gay Christian man "who's seen first hand how this message can harm people." "I am calling on TLC to cancel My Husband's Not Gay and to stop telling America that LGBT people should lie to themselves and to their faith communities about who they are and who they love," he wrote in the introduction to the petition.
My Husband's Not Gay follows a set of couples—Jeff and Tanya, Pret and Megan, Curtis and Tera—and a single man, Tom, who is grappling with his "Same Sex Attraction."
According to GLAAD, several of the people featured on the show are involved with "ex-gay" therapy.
TLC is coming off the controversy surrounding Here Comes Honey Boo Boo, which was canceled after reports that Mama June Shannon was seeing a convicted felon whom her daughter, Anna Cardwell, said molested her as a child.
My Husband's Not Gay is still scheduled to air on Sunday, Jan. 11 at 10 p.m.