Hallmark loves to make Christmas movies. This year, it released 40 brand new holiday-themed specials, adding to its already impressive collection.

 

These movies are silly. They are sappy. They are very popular. But if you blink, you'll likely miss the odd gay character, relegated to the role of office assistant or seldom seen bestie. Forget about watching a queer lead fall in love and kiss under the mistletoe. 

 

Gay fans of the movie have taken notice, and are calling out Hallmark for the glaring lack of diversity. 

 

Hallmark claimed it is listening. Executives at Hallmark's parent company, Crown Media, say they are planning to have more diverse options. When? Sometime in the future.

 

"We are continuing to expand our diversity,” Michelle Vicary, executive vice president of programming for Crown Media Family Networks, promised. "We are looking at pitches for LGBTQ movies … and we are looking to expand and represent the United States as a whole."

 

Lifetime Channel is no better. It released 30 new Christmas movies this year and not one of them features a gay lead.

 

This isn’t much of a surprise, as very few Christmas offerings include LGBTQ storylines. Netflix’ new Let It Snow does offer one of the few gay couples in a Christmas movie. And Canadians have Too Cool For Christmas, in which the main character has gay parents; the same movie was released in the US, with the exact same script, but with the gay parents replaced by a straight couple. 

 

So for the time being, you're more likely to find Santa naked in your living room than seeing a gay kiss in a Hallmark movie.