For the second year in a row, a Hallmark movie has been nominated for a GLAAD Media Award.
The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls was listed as a nominee for Outstanding TV Movie. The film is the sequel of Christmas House, which debuted during 2020’s Countdown to Christmas event on Hallmark.
The network announced the news in a post on Instagram.
“Congratulations to the amazing cast and crew of #TheChristmasHouse2 on their nomination for a @GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Movie!” read the caption.
Both films feature a gay couple played by Jonathan Bennett and Brad Harder. In the first movie, the men are trying to adopt a child, and in the second, they are dealing with their new role as parents.
In the comments section, one of the movie’s stars, Jonathan Bennett, wrote, “Let’s go Hallmark!!!!!”
In a television interview, Bennett said he received an overwhelming response from people when the first movie came out.
“So many people reached out and said, ‘Hey, this is the first time I feel seen watching a Christmas movie, any Christmas movie,’” he said.
A piece of Hallmark history
The Christmas House made history when it debuted in 2020. In addition to featuring an openly gay couple, it also featured the first same-sex kiss in a Hallmark Christmas movie.
The movie caught the eye of a Smithsonian archivist, who added props, a costume, and a signed copy of the script to the National Museum of American History’s LGBTQ collection.
Both the first and the second of The Christmas House movies are comedies. In the first, Sharon Lawrence and Treat Williams star as Phylis and Bill Mitchell, the parents of two adult sons, who Bennett and Robert Buckley play.
Though the parents are looking forward to the coming holidays, their sons are preoccupied. One focuses on his career as a television star, and the other is trying to adopt a child with his husband.
To get the boys in the Christmas mood, Phylis and Bill revive a tradition from the boys’ childhood, decorating the house inside and out for the holiday.
In the second film, Bennett and Buckley compete against each other on a reality TV show to create the most beautiful Christmas decorations for their homes.
The GLAAD Media Awards
According to the GLAAD Media Awards website, the prizes honor media for “fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ people and issues.”
Awards are given in categories ranging from Outstanding Documentary and Outstanding Broadway Production to Outstanding Video Game and Outstanding Children’s Programming.
Though The Christmas House was one of 2021’s nominees, the award for Outstanding TV Movie went to Amazon’s Uncle Frank.
The 33rd GLAAD Media Awards will be announced in two ceremonies, one on April 2 in Los Angeles the other on May 6 in New York.