Jonathan Bennett Praises Hallmark's 'Unwavering Support' of LGBTQ+ Stories amid Candace Cameron Bure Backlash

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Jonathan Bennett is proud of the work he's doing with the Hallmark Channel — and of what it means for his fellow members of the LGBTQ+ community.

In a conversation with Breanne L. Heldman on PEOPLE Every Day podcast, the actor praised the network's move toward inclusivity in recent years. "What I love so much about Hallmark Channel is the care they take in the quality of telling the story, especially when it involves LGBTQ+ people, it's handled with so much respect," he said.

That respect continues behind the scenes, with Hallmark prioritizing the advice of their LGBTQ+ staff, said Bennett, 41: "If they don't know something or they're having a question on what we should do for a certain scene, they ask, they say, 'Hey, everyone's opinion, what is everyone LGBTQ+ members of the creative team, what do you guys think is the right move here?' And they listen and they are just so supportive and handle it so well."

He continued, "It's just been an unwavering amount of support from the network on telling the story and wanting to tell it and letting us do it how we want."

Fred Hayes/Crown Media

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Bennett's praise for Hallmark comes shortly after another holiday movie fan-favorite, Candace Cameron Bure, told The Wall Street Journal earlier this week that her forthcoming projects with the Great American Family channel would "keep traditional marriage at the core" of its storytelling.

The remark garnered backlash from Cameron Bure's Full House costar Jodie Sweetin, JoJo Siwa and Hilarie Burton.

"Honestly, I can't believe ... that she would not only create a movie with intention of excluding LGBTQIA+, but then also talk about it in the press," Siwa, 19, wrote on Instagram Tuesday. "This is rude and hurtful to a whole community of people."

Frazer Harrison/Getty; Todd Owyoung/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty JoJo Siwa and Candace Cameron Bure

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For Bennett and other LGBTQ+ actors, the reality of finally feeling seen on screen is not a foregone conclusion, or even a distant memory.

In fact, when he read the script for 2020's Christmas House — his first Hallmark Christmas film to feature a gay couple — he was overcome with emotion.

"I got to the first scene where I'm with my husband of the movie and we're talking about adoption and I was like, 'Wait a minute' — and then I had to go back and look at it again because they didn't tell me what the character was. They just said, 'Here's the role,'" he shared on PEOPLE Every Day.

Bennett immediately celebrated the plot with his husband, Jaymes Vaughn. "I remember distinctively screaming to Jaymes, being like, 'Babe, there's a gay character.' And he came running up the stairs. I think I had tears in my eyes actually because it was such a moment of feeling so seen."

Craig Minielly/Hallmark Media

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Even better, Bennett was able to continue telling the story in the 2021 sequel Christmas House 2.

"I'm just so proud to be part of Hallmark channel that does such inclusive programming," he told PEOPLE on Tuesday night's red carpet for the upcoming Hulu series Welcome to Chippendales.

He name-checked his upcoming project "The Holiday Sitter, which is our new movie coming out this Christmas, which is an LGBTQ+ led rom-com," he shared. "[It's] got so much heart and so much family, and so much humor in it. So I'm just proud to be making movies for everyone to watch at Christmas, because Christmas is for everybody."

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The Holiday Sitter premieres Dec. 11 on Hallmark.