Preacher’s Sons, a new feature-length documentary by C Reed and Mark Neely, looks set to make a significant contribution to the awareness and understanding of gay families. The film follows the lives of Stillman White and Greg Stewart, partners for over 20 years, and the five “at risk” boys they adopted. When it begins, Greg, a Unitarian minister, and Stillman, a former social worker who specialized in troubled children, had fostered all five children and adopted two of them. The story chronicles their metamorphosis through four cities and five years into “a full-fledged family.”
Based on the film’s trailer and Web site, it is clear this is more than just a feel-good portrait. The filmmakers show the family in all its ups and downs. We see the boys struggle in school and the dads struggle with time, money, and their own relationship. We see them deal with homophobia and racial prejudice. Most importantly, though, we see the love that binds them, and the dads’ commitment to a Christian ideal that the far right cannot even fathom. “I believe that I’m doing what God wanted me to do,” says Stillman in the trailer, and it is hard to disagree.
The Web site adds:
No matter what you think about same-sex parenting, your assumptions will be challenged as you watch this compelling story unfold over the course of five years. The Stewarts are an unconventional family, with surprisingly conventional values. Their odyssey is intimate and moving; but it exists within a wider context of the national debate over same-sex marriage and adoption. This film presents a rich body of evidence that encourages thoughtful discussion of these hot-button topics.
The film will be completed this fall. In the next few months I will bring you more about it and those involved with its creation. In the meantime, please see what you can do to ensure this documentary has a wide audience.
A longer (10-minute) trailer is available on the film’s YouTube site.
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