JoJo Siwa is sounding off on Candace Cameron Bure’s comments that her television movies on Great American Family will focus on “traditional marriage”They are not LGBTQ+ members.
“Honestly, I can’t believe after everything that went down just a few months ago, that she would not only create a movie with intention of excluding LGBTQIA+, but then also talk about it in the press. This is rude and hurtful to a whole community of people,”Siwa published on Instagram.
The message received support from Bure’s Fuller HouseJodie Sweetin, co-star of the film, replied to the post by adding: “You know I love you.”
Siwa and Bure got into a heated argument earlier in the year after a TikTok viral video had caused quite a stir Dance momsAlum claims the Fuller HouseActor was “rudest celebrity.”Siwa, then 11, attended a red carpet event for Netflix’s series. Bure asked for a photograph. Bure declined to pose with the dancer and instead took photos with other people.
Bure reached out to Siwa to talk things out and they were able to clear it with Siwa saying she now understands the pressure of being on a red carpet but at a young age didn’t comprehend.
Bure’s comments were featured in a Wall Street JournalThis article explains why she chose Great American Family over Hallmark.
“It basically is a completely different network than when I started because of the change of leadership,”She told the publication.
Hallmark is diversifying its storytelling with these comments. It will premiere its first holiday movie featuring an identical-sex couple, titled The Holiday Sitter. After Bure’s interview went viral GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) issued a statement inviting the actor to a conversation.
“It’s irresponsible and hurtful for Candace Cameron Bure to use tradition as a guise for exclusion,” GLAAD’s President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said. “I’d love to have a conversation with Bure about my wife, our kids, and our family’s traditions. Bure is out of sync with a growing majority of people of faith, including LGBTQ people of faith, who know that LGBTQ couples and families are deserving of love and visibility.”
Ellis said that Bure’s “statement is harmful and insulting to LGBTQ employees, as well as employees with LGBTQ friends and family.”
“If GAF’s plan is to intentionally exclude stories about LGBTQ couples, then actors, advertisers, cable and streaming platforms, and production companies should take note and seriously consider whether they want to be associated with a network that holds exclusion as one of its values,”Ellis concluded.
