Finally, some merry news for 2020: on Monday, Lifetime announced plans to release a holiday movie (opens in new tab) featuring a same-sex couple. As part of its annual "It's a Wonderful Lifetime" holiday program (opens in new tab) (30 new films are slated for this year), the network will release a film about Hugo, a New York corporate lawyer who is framed by his mother Kate during the holiday festivities in (surprise), The Christmas Set-Up, which will be released during the holiday festivities. (opens in new tab)

"It's undeniable that Hugo and Patrick are attracted to each other, and Kate's well-intentioned Santa-style matchmaking appears to be a success." The Lifetime description says, "But when Hugo receives word of a big promotion that requires him to move to London, he must decide what is most important to him."

It continues.

TVLine reports (opens in new tab) that the film has just begun casting, with production scheduled to begin later this month.

The decision to produce a holiday film centered on LGBTQ characters comes after Lifetime made headlines last year when it featured the first same-sex kiss in its Christmas movie, Twinkle All the Way. It's surprising that it took Lifetime executives a few years to realize that "even gay people like cheesy holiday content," but kudos to Lifetime execs for finally making strides to be more inclusive.

"We are excited to continue our legacy of creating a welcoming holiday destination for all at Lifetime," said Amy Winter, EVP of programming for Lifetime and LMN, in a statement, per TVLine." With more new movies than any cable network for streamers, I couldn't be prouder of the incredible talent joining us, in front of and behind the camera, in these new holiday movies."

Lifetime's decision contrasts sharply with that of Hallmark Channel, a direct competitor for Christmas movies, which came under fire for canceling a Zola ad (opens in new tab) featuring a lesbian wedding last holiday season. (Hallmark later reversed that decision (opens in new tab) and apologized. The parent company's CEO, Bill Abbott, resigned (open in new tab) in response to the backlash.

In another sign of Lifetime's commitment to diversifying its content, the company's holiday programming includes a Chinese-American family story titled "A Sugar & Spice Holiday" and a film featuring the disabled actress Ali Stroker titled Christmas Ever After," featuring disabled actress Ali Stroker.

An isolated Christmas might not be so bad.