The Right to Love: An American Family

The Right to Love: An American Family, dir. Cassie Jaye, 2012, USA, 88 min. 
screened with Hold On Tight, dir. Anna Rodgers, 2011, Ireland, 12 min. [not reviewed]
Saturday 6/16, 11:00am @ Roxie, RIGH16R

The Right to Love: An American Family

Jay and Bryan Leffew and their children Daniel and Selena are in most respects a normal American family, except for the little detail that Jay and Bryan are two men. They’re legally married in California, having caught the window between the state supreme court’s decision in May 2008 and the passage of Proposition 8 less than 6 months later, and they’ve legally adopted two kids. In the aftermath of the Prop 8 defeat, the Leffews started a blog called “Gay Family Values,” with YouTube videos to boot, to show the world that a family headed by a same-sex couple is nothing to fear.

The documentary The Right to Love introduces us to the Leffews, with bits of their activism intermingled with their everyday lives. Of course, if you’re reading a blog about an LGBT film festival, you probably don’t need much convincing that same-sex couples aren’t monsters out to destroy the moral fabric of America, but you might use the Leffews to work on that homophobic relative, friend, or coworker. It’s a nicely done film, worth seeing. Recommended.

[The short film Hold On Tight that screened with Right to Love was not available for review.]