Magnolia Network stars Chip and Joanna Gaines have built a brand by infusing rustic farmhouse charm into home renovation projects — growing a booming lifestyle empire that spans television and retail. Their Christian faith has also been a defining part of their public identity.
But their new reality show, “Back to the Frontier,” which premiered July 10 on HBO Max and Magnolia Network, has thrust the HGTV “Fixer Upper” duo into the middle of a heated culture war.
At the heart of the online controversy is the inclusion in the cast of a gay couple, Jason Hanna and Joe Riggs, and their 10-year-old twin sons. “Back to the Frontier” follows three modern families dropped in the pastures of Calgary, Alberta, where they must live like 1880s homesteaders for eight weeks. Hanna and Riggs, like other cast members, must navigate frontier life without modern conveniences in a rustic cottage with their children.
Although Chip and Joanna, who are executive producers of the series, haven’t made public statements supporting LGBTQ+ rights, their decision to cast a same-sex couple prompted backlash from prominent evangelical figures and their fans. Critics argued the move contradicts the Christian values the couple has long professed.
Franklin Graham, president of humanitarian aid organization Samaritan’s Purse, called the decision “very disappointing.”
“While we are to love people, we should love them enough to tell them the truth of God’s Word. His Word is absolute truth. God loves us, and His design for marriage is between one man and one woman. Promoting something that God defines as sin is in itself sin,” he wrote on X.
Evangelical podcaster Allie Beth Stuckey accused the Gaines of abandoning core Biblical tenets: “You’ve exchanged the God of Scripture for the god of self, because you think that you are better and wiser than God is.”
The American Family Association told Religion News Service that Gaines’ new series “promotes an unbiblical view of human sexuality, marriage, and family — a view no Christian should embrace.”
Even the pastor of Antioch Community Church in Waco, where the Gaines are longtime members, issued a statement on X affirming that: “Jesus and his word is our central way to live our lives,” and reiterating the church’s support for traditional marriage.
Chip Gaines responded on X, calling out what he thinks is a pattern of judgment and hypocrisy in American Christian culture: “Talk, ask qustns, listen .. maybe even learn. Too much to ask of modern American Christian culture. Judge 1st, understand later/never
“It’s a sad sunday when ‘non believers’ have never been confronted with hate or vitriol until they are introduced to a modern American Christian.”
When conservative influencer Jon Root asked, “Why compromise on the Bible’s clear teachings on this? Why support homosexuals buying kids?” Chip replied by quoting a Bible verse: “But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 1 Peter 3:15.”
While conservative backlash dominated headlines, some progressive Christians questioned why evangelical critics seemed more outraged by a gay couple on TV than by political figures who openly flout Christian ethics. They argue that many are quicker to rebuke a reality show than to hold powerful leaders accountable.
Here are three articles that dig into the controversy:
‘Loss of the middle’
The controversy underscored just how difficult it is to cater to both mainstream and Christian audiences, according to Religion News Service. “From the backlash faced by Christian pop musician Amy Grant in 2022 after she agreed to host her niece’s same-sex wedding to the way Christian author Jen Hatmaker’s books were pulled from LifeWay Christian Stores shelves in 2016 after she voiced support for the LGBTQ community, this pattern is nothing new. And in a polarized political climate, some argue the balancing act is becoming increasingly unachievable," wrote Kathryn Post for RNS.
Pastor and public theologian Kevin M. Young told RNS that the debate is reflective of the polarization in broader American society and shrinking middle ground. “We see within evangelicalism the same thing that we have seen over the last century or so in America society in general, and that is a loss of the middle. People who try to speak to both sides of the ideological spectrum are increasingly unable to do that tenably,” Young told RNS. “And a lot of good, well-meaning folks with great content, like the Gaineses, are getting caught in the middle of that.”
Principles or power?
In a column over the weekend titled “Christian Cancel Culture Strikes Again”, David French, columnist for the New York Times, argued that conservative Christians who are criticizing Chip and Joanna Gaines are engaging in the very kind of cancel culture they claim to oppose.
In his view, the online outrage reflects not a principled stand, but a desire to assert cultural control and use moral certainty to justify silencing or shunning others. “It turns out that they didn’t hate cancel culture so much as they hated feeling powerless and vulnerable,” he writes. The reaction is less about hypocrisy, he argues, and more about authoritarian instincts and double standard.
“Yes, there is hypocrisy here. It’s a bit much to hear that it’s vitally important for Chip and Joanna Gaines to reject two gay dads (and their children!) from Christians who are also all in on Donald Trump. A gay couple on reality television is a bridge too far, but supporting a thrice-married man who was featured on the cover of Playboy magazine and was once good friends with Jeffrey Epstein is not?” French writes.
He goes on to explain that many evangelicals are often overly lenient toward powerful abusers within the church, but “can be remarkably hostile” toward outsiders. They also tend to distrust whistleblowers who expose church misconduct, but admire those who criticize people outside the faith.
‘False equivalence’
In response to French’s take, National Review published a piece titled “David French mistakes correction for cancellation,” arguing both the Gaines and David French are making a “false equivalence” by treating same-sex parenting as equal to a biblically based family structure. Writer Luther Ray Abel writes that while it’s valid to criticize Christians who support Trump or protect abusers, that doesn’t justify endorsing or promoting same-sex relationships on a Christian-led show. “The Gaineses, and French for that matter, fail to grasp what they are elevating as a good is a false equivalence that may very well cause others to stumble,” he writes.
It may have been acceptable for the Gaines to appear on a program hosted by gay men, and act as “witnesses to Christ,” he writes, “but I think it another thing entirely for the Gaineses to provide a platform for the family, formed from the broken union of a mother and her sons, and suggest that this is somehow the equal of a healthy, God-honoring union between a man and a woman.”
He claims the Gaines made a mistake by allowing their show to be shaped by network priorities and for standing by that decision that he described as “an embarrassing oversight.”