Sigourney Weaver to star as the mother of a gay son in "Prayers for Bobby"

Three time Oscar nominee Sigourney Weaver is set to co-produce and star in the Lifetime TV movie Prayers for Bobby, about a woman whose gay son commits suicide.

It's based on a 1996 book by Leroy Aarons about Mary Griffith, whose life was forever changed when her son took his own life. From the publisher's comments:

Bobby Griffith was an all-American boy ... and he was gay. Faced with an irresolvable conflict -for both his family and his religion taught him that being gay was "wrong"- Bobby chose to take his own life. Prayers for Bobby, nominated for a 1996 Lambda Literary Award, is the story of the emotional journey that led Bobby to this tragic conclusion. But it is also the story of Bobby's mother, a fearful churchgoer who first prayed that her son would be "healed," then anguished over his suicide, and ultimately transformed herself into a national crusader for gay and lesbian youth. As told through Bobby's poignant journal entries and his mother's reminiscences, Prayers for Bobby is at once a moving personal story, a true profile in courage, and a call to arms to parents everywhere.

The movie will be directed by Russell Mulcahy (who directed a few of the early episodes of Queer as Folk, including the pilot). While looking up info about the movie, I ran across this supposedly humorous blurb from New York Magazine:

Sigourney Weaver makes the long-dreaded move to Lifetime Original Movie territory by producing and starring in Prayers for Bobby, about a conservative woman who questions her beliefs after her gay son commits suicide. Alternate titles eventually rejected: Not Without My Dead Gay Son, and Mother, May I Sleep With Men? No? Well, Then I Shall Commit Suicide.

Way to mock a dead guy, New York Magazine!