‘It’s a recruiting video, I think’: Newsmax host insists that ‘Agatha All Along’ is turning your kids gay
Even before Agatha All Along premiered, it became the target of conservative hysteria, with Newsmax host Chris Plante insisting it’s meant to “recruit” children to the LGBTQ+ community.
Given that it’s customary for conservatives to lose their minds every time a TV show or movie acknowledges the existence of the LGBTQ+ community and features women or witches, it’s not surprising Agatha All Along is their latest target. The series is a spinoff of WandaVision, which follows fan-favorite character Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn) after she is freed from the Scarlett Witch’s spell and joins several other witches for a new adventure.
Recently, the cast expressed excitement over the LGBTQ+ representation in the series. In addition to starring Joe Locke and Sasheer Zamata, who are openly out, the series incorporates queer characters.
The stars have teased that the show will be the “gayest” Marvel project yet, which isn’t a very difficult label to achieve, considering the franchise has been greatly lacking in LGBTQ+ representation. Meanwhile, both Locke and Hahn clarified that the sexual orientation and relationships between the characters aren’t the entire focus of the show. Instead, it’s just a normalized facet of the characters. Of course, conservatives instantly began twisting their quotes about Agatha All Along‘s representation to make it seem as if the show was an LGBTQ+ recruitment campaign.
Newsmax hosts raise hysteria over Agatha All Along‘s queer representation
In a recent edition of Newsmax’s Chris Plante: The Right Squad, host Plante and his co-host Jason Nichols began discussing Agatha All Along. Plante recounted how he heard the cast “flaunting and flailing with joy that the show is the gayest Marvel series ever.” He also noted how Locke stated that the show proves “the Marvel Universe isn’t just for straight men anymore.”
The host goes on to claim that he wasn’t initially concerned about it, but then he thought of “the kids.” He states, “It’s the kids, it’s—we’re targeting the kids, and it’s the gayest thing, and it’s, you know, it’s a recruiting video, I think.”
Nichols chimes in to claim that he knows “gay people do exist” and doesn’t believe films need to pretend as if they don’t exist. However, because Agatha All Along is “the gayest film or whatever,” he assumes it’s not appropriate for children. He concludes, “But, you know, I think if it’s inappropriate for children, then they should make sure that people know that it’s inappropriate for children.” Plante then begins equating the show to the books that conservatives have been banning for featuring LGBTQ+ characters, while co-host Mercedes Schlapp commented that it’s “sick” that Disney supposedly has an “obsession with sexuality and sex.”
The Newsmax hosts are using the same flawed logic that conservatives utilize in the book-banning movement. Their strategy is to pretend that LGBTQ+ representation is synonymous with the term “sexually explicit” so that they can raise hysteria that children’s picture books about penguins are somehow “pornographic” and “obscene.” None of Agatha All Along‘s cast mentioned anything about “sex” or said anything that would suggest the show is “inappropriate” for younger audiences. However, the show is rated TV-14, so it’s not the Disney Jr. cartoon the Newsmax hosts are trying to paint it as either.
The homophobic “recruitment video” theory is a tired conservative argument. There are conservatives who genuinely believe that books, TV shows, and even public schools have a secret agenda to turn children gay. They are so hateful that they use the mere idea of children “turning gay” to excuse parents for denying their children an education or censoring everything they read and watch. Agatha All Along simply seeks to acknowledge the LGBTQ+ community to push for acceptance of these individuals and allow them to see themselves reflected on the screen.
Seeing as conservatives are the ones known for spreading extreme right-wing propaganda and promoting conversion therapy, maybe they should be more concerned about the influence they have on children than a fictional Marvel TV show about witches and superpowers.
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