924 SHARES Facebook Twitter Whatsapp Pinterest Reddit Pocket

This fall, one of the new series HGTV was planning to roll out was “Flip It Forward,” a show in which real-estate brokers and twin brothers David and Jason Benham would flip houses in an effort to get families into their dream homes. That is, until last Thursday, when People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch uncovered the Benham brothers’ long and sordid history of homophobic and Islamophobic statements. Less than 24 hours later, HGTV tore up the contract. Like clockwork, the Benhams claimed HGTV axed the show after giving into bullying from those evil libruls who didn’t want a show featuring main characters who are pro-life and pro-traditional marriage. Indeed, they say HGTV was well aware of their beliefs. Maybe it’s just me, but if I were a network executive and I found out that one of the main characters on a new show called Islam “a demonic agenda” and “the enemy attacking America” and also claimed gays were controlled by “demonic forces,” I’d probably think that this wasn’t something an on-air disclaimer could fix. Well, you can add one more entry to the voluminous evidence that the Benhams are being disingenuous. It turns out that a decade ago, they actively tried to stop a gay pride festival in their hometown of Charlotte.

In 2004, the Benhams were among the loudest voices opposed to the then three-year-old Charlotte Pride festival. Jeremy Hooper of Good As You discovered that at a November 2004 city council workshop, the Benhams forcefully demanded that the city council deny Charlotte Pride the permits it needed to host the 2005 event. And they did so using language that belies their claims that they love gays and lesbians. David Benham told the council to refer a picture in his packet of a man in drag, or a “shem,” as he called him–a common slur used to refer to drag queens. He claimed the council had allowed “the wool to be pulled over their eyes” by Charlotte’s LGBT community, saying that what was billed as a “celebration and fellowship for the lesbian/gay/transgender/bisexual community” was actually license for things that children shouldn’t be allowed to see. He concluded:

“This is filth, this is vile and should not be allowed in our city. I have a one-year old, a three-year old and a five-year old and I want them to grow up in a city that will honor the folks that are in it.”



Jason Benham then took the stage and was even more blunt. He said:

“They have a right to apply for this permit, but you have a right and responsibility to deny it. I implore you to not be governed by the fear which you feel.”

In Jason’s view, the council had a “responsibility” to deny Charlotte Pride “every permit they ask for.”

The Benhams were among a number of people who complained about lewd acts at the 2004 edition of Charlotte Pride. I live in Charlotte, and have a number of gay friends–most of whom are devout Christians. If this had been anywhere near as widespread as the Benhams and others made this out to be, I can personally attest that my gay friends wouldn’t have gone near Charlotte Pride with a 10-foot pole. More to the point, though, it’s pretty revealing that the Benhams were willing to go so far to derail a gay-pride parade–and to use a gay slur to make their case. As it turned out, their efforts were unsuccessful–and Charlotte Pride is still very much alive. Indeed, once word got out that the Benhams had lost their HGTV gig, Charlotte Pride decided to use them as a fundraising hook.

So when a local gay community wants to hold a gay pride event, any attempt to stop it is protecting against “filth” that “should not be allowed in our city.” But when you lose a television show because of hateful comments about gays and Muslims, you’re being persecuted. Yeah, OK.

Darrell Lucus is a radical lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.

