Last night I had the great pleasure of attending the world premiere of a wonderful documentary, The Right To Love: An American Family at the Castro Theater. Directed by Cassie Jaye, the film follows the heart breaking and heart warming story of the Leffew Family, husbands Jay and Bryan, and their adopted children, Selena and Daniel in the California city of Santa Rosa.

After the Prop 8 passed in 2008, Jay and Bryan wanted to show how normal their family is and started posting home videos on YouTube in an ongoing series ”Gay Family Values“. The documentary uses a lot of of Jay and Bryan’s home footage, and it gives the film really authentic character.

What makes this film so special, is how it focuses on the similarities of gay and straight relationships. The main idea running through the film is the love Jay and Bryan feel for each other is the same love any straight couple feels. The love Jay and Bryan feel for their kids Daniel and Selena, at the very least matches, the love any heterosexual couple feels for their own children. You see how the Leffews are like any other typical family, they dine together, they say grace before eating, and they even play “tooth fairy” when either of the kids lose a tooth.

The only qualm I can say I have is when they expose the National Organization for Marriage’s 3 step playbook of lies, there’s just one too many cuts of Maggie Gallagher spouting her rhetoric. However I understand it was to enforce how NOM spreads their lies systematically, but I think the same message could be conveyed with slightly less Maggie ‘FullOfLies’ Gallagher.

The Right To Love: An American Family really is a documentary that should be seen by everyone, gay or straight. So if you’re near any of the screenings, get a ticket, you will not be disappointed.