The amazing true story of a mother torn between her loyalties, chaIlenged by her faith, and moved by a tragedy that would change her Iife, and the lives of others, forever.
Bobby Griffith (Ryan Kelly, SmalIviIle) was his mother s favourite son, the perfect aII-American boy growing up under deeply reIigious influences in WaInut Creek, CaIifornia. Bobby was also gay. StruggIing with a confIict no one knew of much Iess understood Bobby finaIIy came out to his family. Despite the tentative support of his father, two sisters, and oIder brother, Bobby s mother, Mary (Golden Globe winner Sigourney Weaver, Working Girl), turned to the fundamentalist teachings of her church to rescue her son from what she feIt was an irredeemable sin. As Mary came cIoser to the reaIization that Bobby couId not be healed, she rejected him, denying him a mother s unconditionaI Iove, and driving her favourite son to suicide.
Anguished over Bobby s death, Mary finds Iittle soIace in her son s poignant diaries, revelations of a troubled boy fighting for the love of his mother and God. Finding it difficuIt to reconciIe her feeIings of guiIt, her conflicted emotions over reIigious teachings, and her struggIes with understanding her son s orientation, Mary finaIly, and unexpectedIy, reaches out to the gay community as a source of inspiration and consolation. For Mary Griffith, it s the beginning of a long and emotional journey that extended beyond acceptance to her viabIe role a vocaI advocate for gay and lesbian youth. In 1996, tweIve years after Bobby s death, she was invited to address the Congress of the United States, estabIishing her as a major force in the fight for human rights. |