An Australian documentary about children growing up with same-sex parents may or may not be seen to completion with crowd-funding efforts coming to a close in just five days time. Filmmaker Maya Newell turned to the public for support part way through production of ‘Gayby Baby’ and so far has reached 83% of her $100, 000 goal.
As the daughter of two mothers, Newell hopes to change the minds of those who believe same-sex parenting is detrimental to children and ultimately her goal is to bring gay marriage to reality. We’re in the midst of what Newell likes to call a ‘Gayby-Boom’ with fifteen percent of homosexual couples raising a child – amounting to millions of children across the globe. The documentary will be told from the perspectives of the three such ‘gaybies’ to see what it’s really like to grow up in such a family.
Appearing on Q&A in late November, Newell set fire to the panel with her question “Have any of you ever thought of kids in same-sex families and how do you think a change in the marriage act might
affect their lives?” Panelist Barnaby Joyce almost seemed to be embarrassed about his opposition to marriage equality while Penny Wong’s smile was hard to miss as she nodded to Newell, “We’ll get there one day”.
The documentary film is not to be confused with the American feature comedy ‘Gayby’, a film festival favourite that was released on DVD earlier this week, which focuses on a gay man and straight woman who decide to start a family together. The coincidentally similar titles prove just how timely this issue is and how important it is to so much of the population.
Watch the trailer below, and if you like what you see you can donate at the film’s Pozible page.
Words by Stephanie Squadrito
