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Gayby Baby: Victorian State Premier Daniel Andrews sprays NSW government over film

THE Victorian premier has delivered an extraordinary cross-border spray, after the NSW government limited screenings of a film at schools.

Taking a stand: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. AAP Image/Angus Livingston.
Taking a stand: Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews. AAP Image/Angus Livingston.

THE Victorian premier has delivered an extraordinary cross-border spray, after the NSW government stepped in to limit school-time screenings of a film about growing up with same-sex parents.

Documentary Gayby Baby can be shown after school hours or during classes where it is part of the curriculum, Education Minister Adrian Piccoli’s office declared on Wednesday, after a Sydney girls high school’s plan to screen the film hit the headlines.

Victoria’s Labor Premier Daniel Andrews labelled it “cruel rubbish” that hurts young people who may be struggling with questions about sexuality and identity.

“Apparently the NSW government thinks it’s all too confusing and distressing a subject for high school students. They couldn’t be more wrong,” Mr Andrews said in a post on his Facebook page on Thursday.

The New South Wales Liberal Government has banned a film from being shown to high school classes after a newspaper...

Posted by Daniel Andrews on Wednesday, August 26, 2015

The furore arose after reports that Burwood Girls High School planned to screen the film, directed by former student Maya Newell, during school hours on Friday.

It was to be followed by a morning tea with purple cupcakes and a purple fashion parade, as part of the student-led Wear It Purple initiative, promoting diversity and inclusiveness in schools. But The Daily Telegraphreported some parents were angry their daughters had to watch the film, which played to sellout crowds at the Sydney Film Festival in June.

While Mr Piccoli admitted on Wednesday that he hadn’t seen the film, Mr Andrews said he had taken his own children to see the film and they “loved it”.

“All kids need to know there are lots of different kinds of families and all kids need to know that the most important thing in any family is love.

“Young people who are same-sex-attracted often lead a quietly difficult life and they deserve our full support.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spO0mKq3vhc

“If you want to talk about things that confuse and distress young people, let’s talk about telling thousands upon thousands of them that they aren’t normal. No one deserves that and it’s just not true.” While the film is being seen as political, when Ms Newell and producer Charlotte Mars decided some five years ago to make Gayby Baby, they could never have imagined they would be releasing the film, out on September 3, during a time when same-sex marriage was on the national agenda.

“The film is not an advocacy film at all,” Ms Newell said on Wednesday.

“It is really just projecting the voice of children who are existing in our society.”

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/teens/gayby-baby-victorian-state-premier-daniel-andrews-sprays-nsw-government-over-film/news-story/5cdaeea0837bcd4c03ae390aabf95023