Hallmark releases its first-ever Christmas film featuring a gay lead couple

The Christmas House has been described by one of its stars as ‘making history’

Hallmark has released its first ever Christmas romance film featuring a gay lead couple.

The festive card company, which has released a slew of holiday-themed films through its TV network, the Hallmark Channel, has previously faced criticism for a lack of diversity.  

The Hallmark Channel showed its first same-sex wedding earlier this year, in the film Wedding Every Weekend, which debuted in August.

The Christmas House follows Brandon Mitchell (played by Mean Girls’ Jonathan Bennett) and his husband Jake (Brad Harder) as they try and adopt their first child.

In an interview with NBC News, Bennett said: “I’m proud of everyone at Hallmark Channel for making the holiday table bigger and more welcoming and warmer this year. 

“What I love about the characters in the movie is that we aren’t caricatures or stereotypes. We are two loving, stable, kind men who are in love and want to start a family of our own.”

The actor added that “correct representation” is important to enable LGBTQ+ people to “see themselves in media”.

The Christmas House premiered yesterday (22 November) in the US on the Hallmark Channel.

Hallmark movies are often broadcast in the UK on terrestrial TV, including on Channel 5.