Monday night’s episode of “The Fosters” on ABC Family, a sitcom created by two homosexual men, is generating controversy after two of its teenage male actors kissed each other on screen in an episode about same-sex feelings among youth—the first-ever depiction of its kind on American television.

The sitcom, created by Peter Paige and Bradley Bredeweg, and produced by actor Jennifer Lopez’s production company, Nuyorican, centers around two lesbians who raise both foster children and biological children together. In Monday night’s episode, characters Jude and Connor, played by Hayden Byerly, 14, and Gavin MacIntosh, 15, kiss each other as they realize that their relationship has developed into more than just friendship.

Paige and Bredeweg told The Wrap that they had planned the scene for some time, but thought that they should hold off on it until the second season. They stated that since they both identify as homosexuals, the scene both reflects their young “coming out” and serves to connect with young viewers who also experience homosexual feelings.

“Both Brad and I are gay men and it felt very true to both of our early coming out experiences,” Paige told the publication. “More than anything else, we felt responsibility to those kids and to our younger selves who didn’t see themselves reflected anywhere.”

“When people question the scene my response has been: ‘Everyone has a first kiss and you remember it. How old were you?'” Bredeweg added. “Ninety percent of people who have an answer come back and say, ‘I was 12, 13 and 14 years old,’ and I say, ‘Exactly. It was time to see this, time to put this up for the world.'”

The creators also noted that they sat down with Byerly and MacIntosh’s parents before moving forward with the scene, and that they were “supportive” and “understood what we are trying to do.”

But not everyone is supportive of the episode. Social media blew up this week on both sides of the issue, with some applauding the scene and others expressing concern.

“I can’t find the words to describe how evil this is–marketing sexual perversion to teens and pre-teens and in the process requiring these underage actors to act out homosexually,” Peter LaBarbera, President of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality (AFTAH) told Christian News Network. “This glamorization of a behavior that God calls ‘detestable’ is sickening–and it is destroying our nation because a nation that celebrates sin.”

He said that many parents will not agree with the creators’ motivation behind the broadcast.

“This whole immoral story line comes down to the need of ‘The Fosters’ homosexual creators to rationalize their sinful ‘gay’ lifestyle. Their perverse supposition is that this homosexual ‘first kiss’ is just like any other first kiss and so it deserves to be modeled to the nation,” LaBarbera stated. “The problem with that is that most parents are not buying this false moral equivalence. They don’t want their son spending too much time with girls—but they certainly don’t view him getting into a homosexual relationship with another boy as anything like that!”

He noted that homosexual behavior is increasingly being promoted in film and broadcast media.

“Now not only are Hollywood and the media ‘All Gay, All the Time,’ but they are pushing nonstop to normalize homosexual behavior to impressionable young people–even pre-teens,” LaBarbera said. “This is reckless and it will lead to more and more young people embracing destructive lifestyles that grieve the heart of our loving Creator.”

“If youth-corrupting propaganda like this doesn’t shake the Church into action, nothing will,” he stated. “Americans need to express their outrage to ABC Family for using their network to essentially teach and mainstream sexual perversion to a new and very young generation. We must not allow corporate America to corrupt our children with impunity.”

Editor’s Note: Those wishing to express concern to ABC Family may call 818-560-1000 or leave a message on their Facebook page by clicking here. 

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