Christians Upset Over Fleeting Images of Gay & Lesbian Parents in "Storks"

(Originally written on 09/27/16): I don't go to the movie theater as much as I used to. There are multiple reasons for that. Long story made short, I haven't seen Storks. I'm vaguely aware that it deals with storks and some corporation that delivers babies to people. One baby gets lost in the process, leading one stork to attempt delivery of the baby in defiance of his corporate overlords. Or something like that. (Jon's Note: I'm sure that the baby eventually makes it to his family and everything works out in the end.)

Turns out that Christian movie reviewers are upset because there's a lesbian couple and a gay male couple in this movie towards the end. Like for less than a second. But you really need to know this so that you can decide if you want your money to go to anything even hinting at gay families.

From the Christian Examiner:

The Bad... The creators of Storks did tip their hat to the LGBT community, although the scene is even more brief than the alleged lesbian scene in Finding Dory. The Storks scene takes place in the film's final minutes, as we watch a rapid sequence involving babies in the arms of different parents. Most of the couples include a man and a woman, but we also see two women, and moments later two men. It's so quick that it's easy to miss (it might last a fifth of a second – if that). The scene was not a deal-breaker to me, although it might bother some conservative families.

In fact, the Christian Examiner decided to post a second article highlighting Storks' gay parenting controversy yesterday:

But there is no question about a just-as-brief (if not briefer) scene in the new animated movie Storks (PG), which has been widely applauded for some of its general themes but which also includes a rapid sequence at the film's end that shows a baby in the arms of different couples – including a lesbian couple and a gay couple. The film grossed $21 million over the weekend and finished No. 2. 

Adam Holz of Focus on the Family's Plugged In department said Christian families who know about the controversy will reach different conclusions as to whether they should watch the film. 

"The scene in question here is very, very short. It may be a quarter of a second or less," Holz told Christian Examiner. "It's truly a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment. If viewers aren't paying close attention, they may very well miss it entirely. Because of that, I think there's room for Christian families to make a variety of decisions on whether they want to navigate this scene or not. That said, I suspect that for many Christian families, the fact that the film includes a scene with at least two same-sex couples (two women and two men shown in a fast-moving montage) receiving babies from storks will push it out of bounds on principle, no matter how fleeting the scene is. 

"By including those images, the filmmakers are promoting a worldview and an understanding of family that's consistent with mainstream secular values with regard to sexuality and marriage, but one that's at odds with a biblical understanding of those important subjects. I suspect that will be enough for many Christian families to take a pass on this film."

Seriously, there are people who will refuse to see Storks because it includes a passing image of two men holding a baby and two women holding a baby for less than one second. And Christians continue to ask me why gay people don't think that there's room for us within the Church...

Updated on 02/14/17: I have been meaning to update this post for a while. It garners much traffic and people from both sides are commenting, which is nice. But I still haven't seen "Storks." It's not on Netflix and there is a huge wait list for it at my local library. And I refuse to buy a DVD copy of this movie for a fleeting glimpse of same-sex couples.

Then I stumbled across images of these same-sex couples late last night, so...
 So these are the fleeting images that have upset so many Christian viewers.