TLC often likes to look at alternative ways of living within the United States, and that’s exactly what the network plans to do with My Husband’s Not Gay, a special set to air on the channel in January of 2015. Check out the trailer for the special, below.
As the video shows, My Husband’s Not Gay will follow three couples and one single man who are all connected in two ways. The first is that they are all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah. The second is that the men are all dealing with the ramifications of living a heterosexual existence while being attracted to men.
In the trailer for the new special, each of the men who are attracted to other dudes but who have chosen heterosexual relationships try to explain how that works out for them. They do this to varying levels of success, stating they have chosen this path thanks to their worldview, their family and friends and the moral tenets their religion has outlined for them. As one gentleman puts it in the trailer:
“I’m interested in men, I’m just not interested in men.”
We get to hear a lot of typical comments from the married couples, including that “no marriage is perfect” but what makes the whole thing come off as so surreal is the fact that each of these men seem to be as open about their sexual preference (stating they are attracted to men) as they are about the fact that they are not gay and are in healthy, loving marriages. One of the wives even says she gets "defensive" when people call her husband out as gay. But the couples have already chosen religion and the Mormon culture over a different sort of life. As the trailer notes, the husbands have chosen “an alternative" to an alternative lifestyle.
The one, poor unmarried guy seems as if he has the most trials ahead of him and will be the most fascinating to watch. In the trailer, he discusses still grappling with his feelings for men and his desire to have a family. We get to see a short clip of the Utah man going on a date and explaining his actual feelings to the girl he is on a date with. I’m not sure if it’s better or worse to throw that bombshell out there early. You have to appreciate the extreme honesty, but at the same time, she does not look pleased.
TLC doesn’t seem be judgy with My Husband’s Not Gay. They are just filming the couples in the video in the light that they see themselves and shedding a real light on the Mormon community and the thought patterns that seem to be present. Consequently, viewers can watch and take away whatever lessons they see fit. It's certainly a more refreshing angle than Here Comes Honey Boo Boo or some of TLC's other specials.
