Gay country music star Shane McAnally is facing a bizarre backlash from conservatives after posting a cute video of his baby that went viral on social media.
The Grammy Award-winning country music singer, songwriter, and record producer shared a video of his baby — who he and his husband had last October via surrogate — saying “mama” after being asked “who do you want, dada or pop?”
The video, which was overlayed with the text “baby has 2 dads… chose neither,” ended up sparking negative reactions from right-wing fans who were not shy about sharing sharp criticism and hate for the queer parents.
McAnally, who shares three children with husband Michael Baum, often posts silly videos of his family, including one labeled "6 week old homophobic baby," that featured his newborn Texson Ray McAnally Baum frowning when he is told he has two dads.
The video has set off a series of polarizing reactions online, as Texson babbles and makes a "mama" sound when asked if he wants "dada or pop" while Baum teases his baby in an attempt to get him to say the right words.
While some people understood that the video was made in jest and that babies often babble incoherently, conservatives immediately began hurling homophobic insults and quoting Bible verses after hearing Baum tell his son that there is "no mama," and watching the baby cry and look frustrated later in the video.
"That's not funny. Someone please save this baby," someone commented on Instagram.
"Let's hope someone from the CPS rescues that baby," another person said.
When the conservative Right Angle New Network reposted the video on X, more homophobic backlash followed.
"This is evil and disgustingly so. Why give a baby to two men? Since their chosen way of life doesn't support the continuity of life, why allow them access to a baby by normal people? Sick," one person commented on X.
"Why do two homosexuals have the right to deprive a child of its mother? When is this abuse going to be known for what it really is? It is child trafficking," someone else wrote.
This response shouldn’t be much of a surprise, considering the rise of conservatism in the United States in recent years has emboldened Republicans to openly share their disdain for same-sex parenting and surrogacy, even though studies consistently show that children of gay or lesbian parents fare no worse than children of heterosexual parents.
