Daddy & Papa - A Documentary
Not only do we share the names Daddy and Papa, but their path to becoming parents started in the foster care system. The success we've seen in our personal and professional lives wouldn't be possible without the hard work of those who came before us.
We’re proud to add Johnny and his former partner William to the growing list of trailblazers who have made our lives possible - Alan Turing, Harvey Milk, James Baldwin, Silvia Rivera, Edie Windsor, Laverne Cox, and now, Johnny Symons and William Rogers.
Although this documentary isn't specifically about our family, we share a common bond with the two men documented in this film. Learn more about this trailblazing family and three others, and follow their journeys to parenthood below.
It's been 20 years now since the release of Daddy & Papa. Back then, gay dads weren't visible in the media, and gay adoption was rare and often times illegal. I started making a film about gay men who were making a conscious choice to parent — and in the process of documenting three other families, I became a gay dad and filmed that journey too. Daddy & Papa premiered at Sundance Film Festival, broadcast on Independent Lens, won more than a dozen festival awards, and was nominated for a national Emmy for Best Documentary. People recognized our family and stopped us on the street, and sometimes they'd introduce their own kids and tell me the film inspired them to adopt.
Two decades later, Zach and Kenyon have grown up, and so have the other kids in the film. Images of LGBTQ families are way more common now, but the need to fight for our families is just as intense. If we keep telling honest and complex stories about our lives, eventually, people will understand that whether you're queer or straight, parenting is parenting.
-Johnny Symons, Documentary Filmaker
Daddy & Papa can be streamed here.
