Over 32,000 sign petition to support Chip and Joanna Gaines' pastor

A petition initiated by the Family Research Council (FRC) to support "Fixer Upper" hosts Chip and Joanna Gaines as well as their pastor, Jimmy Seibert, has gained over 32,000 signatures.

"I stand with Pastor Seibert in his conviction about the biblical view of marriage and commend him for his courage in speaking the truth, even when it's controversial," the petition read.

Seibert caught public attention last week when Buzzfeed reported that the Gaines family attends the Antioch Community Church where he preached against homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

In an interview with FRC President Tony Perkins last Thursday, Seibert revealed that the traffic on the church's website surged after the story was published. He said that he is grateful because many people are being exposed to the teachings of the Bible.

"Thousands and maybe hundreds of thousands of people are now getting some Scripture, getting some clarity, some truth and some thought on this issue or marriage and life and sexual identity and all that. In a weird way, we are grateful that message is getting out," said the pastor, as reported by The Christian Post.

HGTV, the network that airs "Fixer Upper," has released a statement assuring its viewers that it does not discriminate against the LGBT community in any of its shows.

The Gaines couple has not released an official statement, but Chip urged his followers on social media to respect the authors of the articles that became the source of the controversy.

"Regardless of our decision to make a statement about all this craziness, or not, I ask that people please! respect @KateAurthur & @ginamei," Chip wrote on Twitter. Kate Arthur wrote the Buzzfeed article while Gina Mei wrote a similar story on Cosmopolitan.

Another petition started by the American Family Association calling on HGTV to stand by the Gaines family and keep airing their show has garnered over 86,000 signatures.

The Gaines couple also got the support of the David and Jason Benham, whose show on HGTV was canceled in 2014 after they expressed their opinion about abortion and gay marriage.

David described the attack on the couple as a "witch hunt" against those who uphold traditional views about human sexuality or marriage.