‘My Husband’s Not Gay’: A TLC Special About Men Attracted To Men But Married To Women

In TLC’s new special, My Husband’s Not Gay, Mormon husbands and wives set out to prove that being gay is a choice — or so they seem to think.

According to the Wrap, the January 11 special will focus on four Mormon men who admit that they’re attracted to other men. However, most of them are married to women (one of them is a bachelor who wants to marry a woman). The men all live in Salt Lake City, Utah, and they’re all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A promo for My Husband’s Not Gay starts out with a shot of a husband and wife laughing while they ice skate. They look a bit like Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, and they talk about how much they love each other and how they’re “best friends.” However, their relationship isn’t perfect — the husband admits that he’s attracted to other men. The promo features some interesting quotes.

“I like to say I’ve chosen an alternative to an alternative lifestyle.”

“I’m attracted to my wife, for sure — and I’m definitely attracted to men, too.”

“I’m interested in men, I’m just not interested in men.”

“I get a little defensive when somebody calls my husband gay.”

“I want to marry a woman, but I don’t know how to work out these feelings.”

You can check out the promo for My Husband’s Not Gay below.

It’s unclear if any of the men featured on My Husband’s Not Gay consider themselves bisexual, meaning that they’re attracted to both men and women. One man does say that he’s attracted to his wife, but it’s possible that he’s just trying to spare her feelings. The show’s title indicates that the men and their wives don’t like the “gay” label, so perhaps the men believe that they’re choosing not to be gay by marrying women.

This isn’t the first time this type of relationship has been featured on a TV special. According to Gawker, gay Mormon blogger Josh Weed and his wife, Lolly, appeared on VH1’s I’m Married to A… last year. Weed made headlines when he came out in a 2012 blog post. In it, he used the words “gay” and “homosexual” to describe himself, and he admitted that he’s not sexually attracted to women at all. However, he claimed that his sex life is fulfilling.

“In my case, I am attracted sexually to men. Period. Yet my marriage is wonderful, and Lolly and I have an extremely healthy and robust sex life.”

However, Lolly hinted that their love life has always lacked passion.

“I gave up that carnality of just lust, but I feel like what I got in return was much better and definitely more worthwhile.”

You can check out the Weeds talking about their unique situation below. They explain that the Mormon church actually doesn’t see anything wrong with being attracted to the same sex, but acting on these attractions is verboten.

My Husband’s Not Gay will air just weeks after TLC stars Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar made headlines for letting the world know that they have a big problem with same-sex marriage. It’s hard to tell whether My Husband’s Not Gay is TLC’s endorsement of the Duggars’ anti-gay views, or whether the network simply views the families on the show as a few more oddities for viewers to gawk at.

Right now, My Husband’s Not Gay is just a one-off special, but don’t be surprised if it becomes a series someday — TLC seems to love programs that deal with religion. These include Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar’s show 19 Kids and Counting, Sister Wives, My Five Wives, and Breaking Amish.

Will you check out My Husband’s Not Gay when it airs on January 11?

[Image credit: TLC]