Gaybies: We Are Not a Hypothetical by Jez Smith
Head On Photo Festival and Gayby Baby partner to present Gaybies: We Are Not a Hypothetical for this year’s Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Festival. The exhibition is made up of nine portraits of children of LGBTQI parents.
With many children of LGBTQI parents regularly facing the challenge of growing up hearing their families being denigrated by media and politicians, this public art exhibition by Jez Smith with Casey Legler, aims to increase visibility of children, teens and young adults currently living with LGBTIQ parents in Australia, and show how beautiful and diverse modern Australian families are.
The 2015 landmark feature length documentary, Gayby Baby by Director Maya Newell helped in launching recognition of Gaybies into national discourse. Gaby Baby follows the lives of four children – Gus, Ebony, Matt and Graham – whose parents are either gay or lesbian. It was catapulted into mainstream news when a screening planned during class time at a Sydney high school resulted in an extraordinary ministerial state-wide ban on screening the documentary during school hours.
Newell, a Gayby herself, has since worked tirelessly on continuing the discussion and visibility of children who are being raised by LGTBQI parents.
