What is a “Gayby” Baby?
It’s a kid who grew up in a same-sex household. GabyBaby is a sweet and intimate documentary that looks at the lives of gay couples with children. We just wish the right-wing conservatives who oppose same-sex marriage and adoption would watch this film. They might learn something; like how same-sex couples make great parents, because they want and plan for their families, and communicate with them intelligently. A much better plan than popping out five kids conceived accidentally, then taking them to Target for out of control meltdowns.
The touching film follows four families with 3-year-old to 12 year-old children, who tell the story of their families from their honest, kid perspectives. One amusing child, Gus, longs to be a wrestler, but his two Moms fear that macho wrestlers are a bad influence. The family works it out by discussing the issue and establishing boundaries like “no choke holds on your little sister!” then rewards his good behavior by taking him to a WWE wrestling match. (Much better parenting than beating your kid with a belt, making him hate you, and traumatizing him for life.) The parents and kids that Australian director Maya Newell followed for 3 years all seem well adjusted and happy.
But recently, conservative columnist Piers Akerman said one of the families in the documentary wasn’t wasn’t “normal” because the parents are two Moms. By the afternoon, the film was banned from Australian schools, who planned screenings. Gus, the wrestling fan who was 9-years-old during filming and is now 13, told Buzzfeed, that the decision to ban the film during school hours was “stupid, utter stupidity”.
“I’d just say unless you actually know anything at all about gay parents, you should probably stay out of their business.” The movie, he says, is “more about the kids and their story and how they grow, and showing that their lives aren’t that much different from people with a mum and a dad.”
The kids are alright.
