Twin brothers David and Jason Benham on
Thursday appeared on CNN to discuss HGTV's decision to cancel their
upcoming reality show.
Flip It Forward, which was set
to premiere in October, featured the bothers as they helped families
buy and sell distressed properties for a profit.
Network executives acted after Right
Wing Watch published a report on the brothers' activism.
David Benham compared opposition to
marriage equality to efforts to defeat Nazi Germany and stated that
gay men need to find God. The brothers also staged a prayer rally in
Charlotte in part to protest the city's acceptance of marriage
equality.
(Related: HGTV
reverses course on show featuring anti-gay brothers David, Jason
Benham.)
The brothers told CNN's Erin Burnett
that they do not personally hate gays or Muslims.
David insisted that he has never
“spoken against homosexuals as individuals,” adding that he and
his brother “love homosexuals and we love Muslims and have nothing
against” either.
“The point of this is there's an
agenda that is seeking to silence the voice of men and women of
faith,” he added. “That's what all this is about. I absolutely
think any sex outside marriage is not healthy for human flourishing.
I think it's very important we set the record straight. There's a
difference between people and agenda.”
The brothers stood by HGTV, saying they
felt the network “was bullied” into reversing course.
“All of this media firestorm … was
too much for them to bear and they had to make a decision,” David
said. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)
(Dan Savage: David,
Jason Benham just learned the cost of homophobia.)