Kristin Chenoweth has defended a gay
plotline on ABC's dramedy Good Christian Belles, which made
its premiere on Sunday.
In the show, Chenoweth, who last year
starred opposite Sean Hayes in the Broadway revival of Promises,
Promises, plays Darlene, the ringleader of a group of uppity
wives who confront Amanda (played by Leslie Louise Bibb, Iron Man
2), a mother of two who after the death of her billionaire
husband returns to her Christian conservative Dallas neighborhood.
One of the well-heeled gossipy wives,
Cricket (Miriam Shor), is married to Blake (Mark Deklin), whose
sexuality is an open secret among the women.
As soon as ABC announced that it had
picked up the show, originally titled Good Christian Bitches
after the book on which it is based on, conservative groups began
criticizing the series as an attack on Christianity.
“The Bible tells us that we're not
supposed to judge, and people shouldn't judge before seeing the
show,” Chenoweth, a gay rights ally, told ABCNews.com.
“I'm a Christian, I think that's pretty well known, and I would
never do anything that I think crossed the line.”
On the gay storyline, Chenoweth
suggested that gay men married to women are more common than
generally believed.
“I'd say go to church and take a look
around the room and see if you see any women who might be married to
a man who might be gay,” Chenoweth said. “I'd say be very
careful of judging someone who's in marriage who is gay because they
don't want to be told they're going to hell. I think that happens
and I think it's horrible.”