Growing up my parents and their friends did a lot of home improvement and decorating projects. It was how people increased the value of their homes with sweat equity.
It seems like most of the homeowners, sellers, and buyers on HGTV are idiots. Its like they seek out people that don’t know what a 2×4 is or how to look up home sales on the internet. I live in Denver and I know the view they give of Denver is unrealistic, so I assume the same is true of the other places they show. There is a lot of Denver where a really nice home can be purchased for less then $300,000, I don’t see them on hgtv.
The gay agenda is pushed well past real America. 4 to 10 percent of Americans are gay, yet it seems like some of the shows on HTGV feature gay couples 1/4 to 1/3 times. No one is surprised to see a larger percentage of gay designers on the coasts, but they must almost be seeking out gay homeowners on purpose to get so many.
I watch hgtv for the content, they have great ideas. Unfortunately it won’t matter if they loose contact with America. I know a lot of people that used to watch it a lot more than they do now. They say its becoming more about gayness than home improvment or decorating. It is so obviously pushing an agenda that it detracts from the shows. They want to see more about real estate and decorating than to hear two guys talk about enjoying the soaker tub.
The color splash guy is great though! Good ideas and results. The only thing that is unrealistic is that few people could paint a picture like he does to go with the design, but then thats his trade mark.
Dont worry about the designers, but try to get more normal American homeowners. We want to see ourselves in the customer, not just gay couples and people with a millon dollars to spend.
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Wow. Well, obviously that came from a typical heterosexual. Pushing the ‘gay agenda’? Really? So, I’m wondering how you would feel if you all of a sudden started seeing a large percentage of African-Americans or Asians being featured: Would that detract from ‘real America’? Or does your ignorant comment only apply to homosexuals? And what is so different from the show that features two men and their home vs. a man and a woman and their home? Is the way they renovate too faggoty? Is it ok when a woman chooses to renovate her bedroom while her husband looks on, but if it’s a gay man or lesbian, then it’s way too radical and different and all of a sudden you’re feeling like your hetero lifestyle is threatened or lost? Maybe the reason you’re seeing more gay homeowners is because they also enjoy making their homes beautiful and they probably figure they have just as much right to be seen as everyone else. And maybe the gays have more style than the heteros. Who’s to say.
m-e on December 22nd, 2009 at 4:20 am | Link
HGTV is as phony as they come. It is 100% scripted, just like a play. I usd to love it, but now every show is like a template.
As far as queers go, God bless them. (I am str8) I feel so encouraged and heartened when I see, for example, two guys who love and care for one another, in the process of buying, say, their first home. I believe my favorite episode was two gay guys who moved from San Diego to Denver… the dominant one (cant remember er their names now, sorry) was naturally whimsical and funny (not that he knew it, which made it all the better), while the passive one - I believe he had a Spanish name - seemed so docile and loving.
I wish for real that I could know those two gents and hug them. I wish more people could be like them - especially straight prudes.
I thought we were supposed to love one another. If so, they were doing just that. I wish more heterosexual couples could be as loving.
I wholeheartedly agree with your observation that HGTV is pushing a gay agenda. I suppose the constant shoving it down our throats will brainwash us into believing that it is a normal and accepted lifestyle. “No” says I.
I’m sitting here watching HGTV as I type this. “Designed to Sell” just went off… 30 minutes of male gay couple. Now “My House Is Worth What?” is on, leading off with Paul & Donald… another 10 minutes of male gay couple. Ah, now we get a refreshing break with Ray & Maureen, 10 minutes of heterosexual couple. Last is Chris (female) & Todd, another 10 minutes of heterosexual couple.
So, in one hour HGTV has managed to devote 67% of their programming to homosexuals. I’m betting that trend will continue all day long… but I won’t know, I’m changing the channel. Maybe I’ll go to the hardware store and look at tools, then come home and wash my truck… shake off some of this queerness that HGTV has subjected me to.
As for homosexuals, if they must continue their deviant lifestyle, then take it back in the closet.
HGTV is not only pushing a gay agenda, they are inundating us with homosexuality.
str8 m8 on January 17th, 2010 at 10:35 am | Link
The “straight” agenda is pushed everywhere, 24/7. I hate nobody. I am straight, I;m glad people of any sex can find someone to love and take care of. Their sex lives are none of anyone’s business!
“Straight” agenda? Since when is normal an agenda?
…and you’re right, their sex lives are none of anyone’s business, so why brandish it in front of the camera at any given opportunity?
str8 m8 on January 24th, 2010 at 9:43 pm | Link
Yes, there does seem to be a “straight agenda.” When one lifestyle is alleged to be preferable over another and there is a strong desire to not even acknowledge the other lifestyle, then there is an agenda present.
Stephen on February 18th, 2010 at 11:04 am | Link
Straight is not an agenda, nor is it a lifestyle. It is the benchmark of what is normal and correct.
nunyabiz on February 18th, 2010 at 11:45 am | Link
Humans are meant to procreate,thats why we have men and women. Whether you are religious or not, that fact does not change. Gay people can live however they want and live whatever “lifestyle” they want, but they should really understand that what they do is not normal. Normal being the abvious FACT that nature or God’s(you choose) designed us humans to procreate. If you dont believe me just look around and see how every lifeform on earth has acted for millions of years. I dont think we got this far with homosexual activity, and if homosexuality is working against procreation, gee I wonder what that makes it?, a flaw maybe?
msek on February 26th, 2010 at 11:59 am | Link
Inasmuch as any of us are “meant” to do anything, I’m hoping it’s more than just to procreate and fill the world up with (sometimes painfully ignorant and intolerant) humans (msek, I’m pretty sure we’ve populated the Earth and established our biblical dominance over the place, in the best way there is: by wrecking it). I must have missed the HGTV shows where people discussed their sexual orientation or engaged in homosexual behavior right there on camera, but I’m glad we have a bunch of you out there really keeping an eye out for this kind of thing, seeking it everywhere, and decrying loudly how it’s wrong and you aren’t gay no way.
The only thing gays have an “agenda” for is to be treated as equals. They’re no different than any other group, be it African Americans, straight people, or nerds- they aren’t one single-minded group that all thinks together to form an agenda. They aren’t trying to force anything on you any more than you are trying to force your straightness on others by being a heterosexual couple looking for a house or whatever it is you’re getting your panties in a bunch over.
As far as heterosexuality being what nature intended… You obviously have no idea what actually goes on in nature. Homosexuality has been a well-documented occurrence in the wild. So, being straight, by nature, isn’t any more “normal” or “correct” than being gay.
And you know what the ironic thing is? Every gay person I’ve ever met has been more loving and accepting than any homophobe I’ve met, not to mention smarter.
David on March 16th, 2010 at 9:25 pm | Link
I never cease to be amazed at the things which people think and say. A gay slant?! Pushing a gay agenda?! Straight = normal?! A deviant lifestyle?! Brandishing it in front of a camera?! Wow! Such hatred! Such resentment!
Heterosexual couples featured on HGTV programming far outnumber same-sex couples.
Gay people have a long history of influence in the industries of design, architecture, decorating and in many other professional realms as well. Their contributions to art, medicine, music, fashion, literature, engineering and other fields of expertise are as significant and worthwhile as those of heterosexuals.
The only difference today is that many gay people no longer feel compelled to hide themselves behind a facade of heterosexuality. I would hardly call that “flaunting” or “brandishing” anything! Nobody is having sex on camera. They’re not even kissing or holding hands! Straight people on HGTV have “brandished” their sexuality in front of the camera far more than any gay people ever have.
These are slickly produced television shows. When Genevieve Gorder or David Bromstad redesign a room, they are doing it based on principles and methods they learned in schools of higher education. It has nothing to do with their gonads. The end results are pleasing to the television camera and hopefuly to the eye of the home viewer. Not everyone will like every design they see on HGTV, but we watch the shows because they are productions with entertainment value based on the work of professional designers.
If I wanted to watch Joe and Betty install a new laminate floor which doesn’t coordinate with their appliances, their cabinets or their curtains, I’d grab a cup of Joe, cross the street and knock on their door. Once there, I wouldn’t waste my time speculating about their private sex life nor would I pass judgement on them for something I know nothing about. If I didn’t like the way they were acting during my visit, I would go home and mind my own business.
Mindlessly repeating modern-day religous values based on the stories and superstitions of primitive goat herders who believed the world was flat hardly constitutes a moral authority. Ignorant comments about procreation, the laws of nature and what constitutes “normal” or “deviant” behavior are lame at best. Such arguments wouldn’t hold up in a valid debate.
Those of you who feel threatened by any of the “gayness” you see on HGTV are misinformed, misanthropic and ridiculously homophobic. That would include the author of this post who seems to think it is a magnanimous gesture to tolerate gay designers on HGTV whilst preferring to see “normal” heterosexual homeowners rather than the gay ones.
Grow up. Get a life. Get a real education at an accredited university. Learn to think rationally, and learn to think for yourself. Bigotry is ugly, and more likely than not, it will hold you back in life.
Tabbie on April 13th, 2010 at 6:10 pm | Link
Well said, Tabbie.
Tabbie, you seem to be saying that “getting a real education at an accredited university” will somehow convince people that perverse behavior is normal? How absurd! Our education system is supposed to educate, not distort morals.
It’s true that many college professors promote their own liberal agendas, and often freely preach their beliefs to students, drilling into them what they should believe, sometimes even threatening to fail students who don’t embrace their instructor’s liberal viewpoints. Perhaps this is what you refer to when you say “bigotry…will hold you back in life” except that having high morals is not bigotry.
nunyabiz on April 17th, 2010 at 6:40 pm | Link
Homosexuality does not equal perverse behavior or distorted morals, nunyabiz. You are sadly mistaken and truly ignorant to believe what others have apparently told you to be the divine inspired truth of the matter. Until you learn to think for yourself, to take an objective look at ALL the evidence including that which is scientifically sound, to stop believing ancient uncorroborated texts which have been translated, retranslated, interpreted and reinterpreted by countless individuals and groups with self-serving agendas, and until you are willing to give up your closely held preconceived notions of what morality really is, you will remain an irrelevant individual with a distorted, unrealistic and inaccurate view of the world around you. Your “high morals” are in fact nothing more than prejudicial hatred-based intolerance and bigotry. This has nothing to do with being liberal or conservative. This is the truth.
Tabbie on April 17th, 2010 at 8:47 pm | Link
Nunyabiz and friends, here’s some other behaviors to watch out for and some new groups of people to hate: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHaVUjjH3EI&feature=player_embedded
I like that video, JGilly. It sums up my feelings quite well! ^_^
Tabbie on May 1st, 2010 at 8:16 am | Link
While I enjoy most of the HGTV type home reno and decorating shows, I have to agree with some of the responses. Is it not a bad stereotype that HGTV, (and other design/reno shows), perpetuate that a designer has to be over the top, flamboyantly gay? Its not that they’re gay that irritates me, its the over-acting drama of every host acting like a stereotypical puppet of what America sees a “gay person” as. Before I get slammed for being hateful towards any group, I would say the same about how most specialty channel hosts are portrayed. Dog the Bounty hunter isn’t a true representation of straight white male bounty hunters, the same way most HGTV hosts aren’t a true representation of gay male home designers. Every host needs a hook to draw an audience, but the pastel wearing, efeminate, high pitched, drama queen gay home designer stereotype, should be shelved alongside the kimono and straw hat wearing, buck toothed, horn rimmed glasses, can’t pronounce “R’s” chinaman stereotype.
Garagamus on May 11th, 2010 at 2:47 pm | Link
The only trouble with your argument, Garagamus, is that not all the designers on HGTV are gay, and of those that are gay, not all are “over the top, flamboyantly gay, pastel wearing, efeminate, high pitched, drama queens” as you put it. I will agree with you that it’s not a good thing to purposely perpetuate stereotypes of any kind, but I would also argue that each person should feel free to act, dress and talk in whatever manner comes naturally to them without having to worry whether or not they fit any given stereotype. For too many years gays and lesbians have been forced to hide in the closet and deny who they are in order to find success in life. Thank goodness the time has come when more and more people are finding the freedom to simply be who they are.
Tabbie on May 12th, 2010 at 9:24 pm | Link
i think many of you have missed the OTHER great point the original post made. too many are hung up on the gay comment that you have overlooked his statement about homes under 300,000. And as far as the gay agenda, where are the shows helping struggling families afford to buy homes over the many shows of gay couples whith more spending money to buy higher price homes. The original post was making a statement about depicting ALL of America gay and str8. And yes, I agree, I’d preffer seeing more racially diverse also but would like to see HELPFUL programs about REAL realistate issues in TODAY’s economy rather than repeat episodes filmed when realestate was lucritive.
todd on June 20th, 2010 at 9:03 pm | Link
Com’ on , give me a ****en break. Queers , fags, homos , is that politically correect? ****en hardly. These ****s take it up the ass , like Mary’y. Like girls. Are they girls? Are they men? Not men. ****en little Maryy’s. Anywaqy , there is no excuess , Fags, go figure.
rick on June 30th, 2010 at 10:50 pm | Link
And Rick, guys who talk like you generally like to take it up the ass, but they don’t want their mamas to know about it ’cause they’ve got small huevos.The biggest homophobes are the likes of Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, you and so forth. I’m just sayin’ …
Tabbie on July 1st, 2010 at 2:52 am | Link
Moved to the US a few years ago. Watched a lot of hgtv while being a sahm. Eventually began wondering why they featured SO many gay couples. Initially I thought they were brothers, friends, father and son… (sorry! cultural differences!! hehe). Then I thought, hey! it’s great! they’re so openly inclusive, very impressive! Then for some reason I began to feel the proportion of gay couples was increasing; not just gay, like article says, but gay (not lesbian mind you!), male, white, affluent, older, retired (all together) couples. A demographic I absolutely cannot identify with at all. I have absolutely nothing against people who are gay, but I also don’t know anyone who is gay personally. Not one person. So it really seems like hgtv is some sort of alternate reality. Why not more lesbian/straight/single, younger, working, struggling, children-having families hunting for houses? The ethnic diversity on hgtv is nice though… when the shows aren’t about the fore-mentioned gay folks
Tara on July 15th, 2010 at 1:33 pm | Link
@ Tara
So you have absolutely nothing against people who are gay, but you think the diversity on HGTV is nice as long as the shows aren’t about gay folks. That doesn’t sound quite right to me.
Funny, but when I watch HGTV, I see far more straight, single, younger, working, struggling, and families with children who are hunting for houses than I see “white affluent older retired together male gay couples” who are looking for houses. I think diversity of alls kinds is nice, including but not limited to lesbians (who are in fact gay btw), African Americans, Hispanics, gay men, and Asian Americans, and I don’t see why it should bother anyone to watch a gay male couple searching for a home.
Why is it so hard to identify with a gay male demographic? Gay men are expected to accept, fit in with and identify with the rest of society at large. You see, we are all people, human beings with the exact same desires as everyone else around us, desires for happiness, security, family, friends, peace, health, prosperity etcera. Being gay doesn’t change those values or desires within a person Being gay doesn’t make a person any less human. Being gay doesn’t mean a person should be a social outcast. Being gay doesn’t mean a person is a terrorist. Being gay is simply a sexual preference, and just like heterosexuality, it is something with which a person is born.
Someone very close to you could be gay, but if so, it’s likely they’re afraid to tell you about it because they can sense in you this hesitancy to accept them for being gay. Maybe they’re afraid they will be that “one too many” gay person in your life. Hey, you said it yourself: Being inclusive is great, as long as the proportion of gay folk to straight folk doesn’t become too great for your personal level of comfort.
Your words clearly imply that you think ethnic diversity is nice, whereas too many gays, especially older, white, retired, affluent gays make HGTV not so nice. I guess you think that particular demographic should just go jump off the planet or start wearing dark shoe polish on their skin. Maybe you think they should pretend to be straight and go marry some unsuspecting woman.
It’s time to think about what you are saying and to reevaluate your thought processes. Adjust your attitude. USA is filled with enough small-minded bigots already.
Tabbie on July 16th, 2010 at 11:10 am | Link
My partner and I watch HGTV at some point almost every day. I don’t know where you geniuses get your notions, but without a doubt the majority of the shows involve heterosexual singles or couples. Only occasionally are gay and lesbian singles or couples featured. Even when a gay couple is featured, they are never shown even kissing or holding hands. On the other hand, straight couples frequently practice public displays of affection.
My partner and I have been in a loving and committed relationship now for 31 years. We’re here to stay, and so are gays and lesbians everywhere. Deal with it.
Stephen on July 30th, 2010 at 1:39 pm | Link
@nunyabiz Don’t bring “GOD” (that mystical creature you believe ex. Unicorns) into it. God teachs acceptance, not hate, we all our his.
And we don’t have a “lifestyle”. Ours is just as boring and miserable as yours, maybe a bit worse with Bible humpers like you harassing us.
HGTV has a large gay demographic, what can I say, most of us have great taste. All TV networks want to make profit, they get it from us.
I’m here, I’m queer, get over it.
Dawson on August 4th, 2010 at 12:47 am | Link
HG TV uses our hard earned money to promote homosexuality into our lives. Some of you says homosexuality is at 10% in America? Where is your information coming from?
For those of you who are sick of watching HG TV airing homo sexuality, please contact your cable provider and let them know of your displeasure. HGTV is considered as premium content in Denver CO and I m calling Comcast to let them know of such.. and downgrading my service.
steve on August 28th, 2010 at 10:44 pm | Link
I hope your children and/or grandchildren turn out to be gay, Steve. Perhaps then you will learn to be a little more tolerant.
You do realize, of course, that gays design your clothes and wedding dresses, your furniture, and help produce most of the television shows you watch each and every day. They write your laws, transport your food in big trucks, fly you around in jet airplanes and do just about every other job you can think of across the land. Why don’t you just go live naked in a cave out in the wilderness and eat whatever food you can scrounge up for yourself if you are really that concerned about not promoting homosexuality? Find yourself a chick who wants to sit on your wild west he-man pole and there’s still a considerably good chance that your beloved heterosexually begotten child could turn out to be gay just like some of those despised folks you’ve stopped watching on HGTV. A lot of gay people have despicable parents just like you, Steve. Remember that, okay buddy?!
Tabbie on August 29th, 2010 at 4:47 pm | Link