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But what’s unexpected is the degree of hostility that Kris Gillespie expresses toward Nicki and Kristine. “They’re depraved,” she says of Nicki and Kristine, “and I really take offense.” The level of her disgust and hatred toward lesbians and gays is shocking and disturbing. Despite the turn toward conservatism that the U.S. has been experiencing during the Bush Administration, openly expressing hatred for gays and lesbians on television is generally taboo, and extremely politically incorrect.

The fact that Kris Gillespie spat out her vitriolic words without apparent fear of repercussion is sad, because it implies that she lives in a world in which her opinion is that of the majority.

But this episode did more than expose the massive divide between conservatives and liberals regarding gay issues. It also brought to light contentious issues about gay parenting; it fumbled through a debate about whether gay rights is equivalent to civil rights; it tackled the decades-old struggle over whether stay-at-home moms are better than working mothers at raising children; and it contrasted traditional child-rearing techniques with new-age ones. Given the fact that Wife Swap is only an hour long (with commercials), none of these issues could be satisfactorily resolved, but it’s impressive that the duo of Kris and Kristine raised so many of them.

The main bone of contention between the Gillespie and Boon-Luffey households was, obviously, the L word. Although scripted television programs often feature lesbian mothers—so often in fact that the lesbian mommy storyline has become a cliché—real-life lesbian parents have been much more controversial. The most recent example of this was the brouhaha over PBS’s decision to not distribute an episode of the children’s series Postcards from Buster after Education Secretary Margaret Spellings objected. In the episode, Buster, the animated rabbit, visits a girl in Vermont who has two lesbian mothers, and Spellings felt that “many parents would not want their young children exposed to the life-styles portrayed in this episode.”

The Gillespies would likely agree wholeheartedly with Ms. Spellings, and Brian himself insisted that religious two-parent households with a stay-at-home mom produce the best-adapted and best-behaved children. Kris took it a step further and declared that lesbian parents raising a child is “immoral.” After visiting a local gay restaurant in Arizona, Kris explained, “Kids are impressionable, and they mimic what they see. You go to strictly gay habitats, you increase the chances that the person will be very promiscuous.”

Kris’s opinions—which seem based in good old-fashioned stereotyping and homophobia—are not backed by scientific evidence. A recent study released in December 2004 by the University of Virginia and the University of Arizona found that children of gay parents were no different than children of straight parents, other than the unexpected finding that they were more likely to be involved in school activities. Other studies of this issue have produced similar results.

Although the lesbian parents in Wife Swap did not appear to be model parents by any means, they did appear to be more “normal” than not. The average American family is more likely to be resemble the Boone-Luffey household—with its frozen meals and snarky child—than the Gillespies’, with its obsession for neatness and formal table settings.

That may not be much comfort for Kristine Luffey, though, who was forced to suffer through Kris Gillespie accusing her of being a sexual predator—something that Nicki rightfully characterized as “ignorant” and “asinine.” In her post-episode interview, Kristine admitted that she regrets participating in the show.

“I was very foolish and naive to do something like this,” Kristine says on the show’s official site. “I really did know better. I knew that people were ignorant and cruel. In my heart, I didn't want to believe it; I wanted to believe that somewhere in there, they could be kind. Now I do believe that some people are truly cruel, and unfortunately, I will never forget.”

Earlier in the episode, after Kristine came out to Brian and his children, Brian admitted that “The gay lifestyle is not consistent with our Christian beliefs. But having said that,” he continued, “people should not be treated in anything but an honoring way regardless of their beliefs. I know that in our church, that if our pastor every found anybody treating anyone with anything less than dignity and respect, that he would be extremely disappointed in them.”

If what Brian said is true, then Kris Gillespie’s pastor must be pretty disappointed in her right now.

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