A documentary about kids with same-sex parents won’t be screened at a school in Sydney, Australia after parents complained, reports The Guardian.
Adrian Piccoli, the New South Wales education minister, claims he “directed” Burwood Girls High School to move a screening of Gayby Baby so that it didn’t happen during regular school hours. He told 2GB Radio, “During school hours we expect students to be doing maths and English and curriculum matters… This movie is not part of the curriculum and that’s why I’ve made that decision.”
The film was initially going to be screened as part of Wear It Purple Day, a national initiative to show support for the LGBTQ community. A disparaging piece by Piers Akerman in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph further stoked the controversy:
“Children in same-sex couple families are one in a thousand of all children in couple families (0.1 percent). Statistically, you are not in a “normal” family, no matter how many LGBTIQ-friendly docos you may be forced to watch by politically-driven school principals.”
Directed by Maya Newell, Gayby Baby sheds light on the lives of four children with gay parents. Newell, an alumni of the school, told Guardian Australia that the situation is “quite upsetting and disappointing.”
She stated in full:
“Once again on the front page of the newspaper we’ve got all sorts of messaging going out to families and kids saying, ‘You know what, your family isn’t good enough, your parents aren’t good enough.’ The film is so innocent. It’s actually much more about four kids who are traversing oncoming puberty, who are dealing with the trials and tribulations of growing up. The fact they have gay parents is really minor.”
The federal Labor senator Penny Wong lamented the backlash, too.
“How sad that a film about real kids and their families is attacked,” she wrote on Twitter. “So quick to bully, so unwilling to listen.”
Grant Mealey
Why?? Where??
Paul Di Benedetto
What bullshit! But what do we expect?
Brian JC Kneeland
So much for support!
Brian
Isn’t Sydney supposed to be an “enlightened” city for gay people or is it just gay-media propaganda designed to make gay tourists visit the city? One has to wonder at times.
Ron Fowler
Yeah they’ll show everything else but nothing like this…so unmoral…!
James Sigmon
Lawyers standing by
Tony Chaplinski
that’s support ?????????????
Barry Stradtner
Shameful
jwtraveler
I think Australia has imported some Christian lunacy from the U.S.
notevenwrong
@jwtraveler, Australia isn’t known as a particularly liberal place. Quite the contrary, in fact. They don’t need help from the U.S. Right Wing to be like this, they’ve always done fine on their own.
Finrod
If the Education Minister can just call up a school and order them around, Australia has a bigger problem than homophobia. That’s the sort of thing that you expect in North Korea.
captainburrito
@Brian: Like most places there are always going to be those who are against gay people in any sizeable city. And that story is from a small suburb with alot of immigrants.
OzJosh
This story is wrong in several key points. First, no parents actually complained. The “outrage” was entirely confected by the Murdoch press, which the conservative NSW government then dutifully reacted to by dictating that the film not be screened during class. The real outrage was the reaction from the school prefects, who wrote a powerful letter condemning the move and supporting diversity and tolerance, and from the vast majority of teachers, parents, politicians and citizens who abhor this kind of out-dated conservative reaction to any attempts at fostering equality and tolerance. It’s a pity Queerty makes the usual knee-jerk journalistic move and highlights the ban, with only the standard political reaction. The real story was the overwhelming support for the film and the outrage at the NSW government.
OzJosh
@notevenwrong: Yes, Australia currently has a repressive Conservative federal government. And it’s behind the times on marriage equality, at least until the government changes. But in most other respects Australia is nothing like the US. The extreme-right christian influence there is relatively small, unlike in the US where they dominate in many areas. And the vast majority of the populace is liberal and tolerant, with more than 70% support for equal marriage.
Gerald GeeLocke Panuthos
THE GAY MAFIA HAS BEEN NOTIFIED!!!ð??¡ð??¡
Misty Bolling
Shame
Robert Ferguson
Only in Australia, but what’s more embarrassing is it was in Sydney, where the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras (one of the biggest festivals in the world) is held every year. Not such a good message from their Government on acceptance. Shame shame shame
Hal-James Pederson
Where?
John Malin
If schools are going to teach, cut the crap out don’t preach, TEACH!
Chris Mommaerts
Where still going back words