The Gay Marriage Thing
Encyclopedia
The Gay Marriage Thing is a 2005 documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 directed by Stephanie Higgins, who is a product of the Emerson College
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private coeducational university located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of oratory," Emerson is "the only comprehensive college or university in America dedicated exclusively to communication and the arts in a liberal arts...

 film school graduate program. The film follows the heated debate over same-sex marriage in Massachusetts
Same-sex marriage in Massachusetts
Same-sex marriage in the U.S. state of Massachusetts began on May 17, 2004, as a result of the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruling in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health that it was unconstitutional under the Massachusetts constitution to allow only heterosexual couples to marry...

 in 2004 through the perspective of a lesbian couple who wishes to legally marry, as that state became the first in the U.S. to grant same-sex marriages (although those marriages were not recognized by the federal government).

Synopsis

“The Gay Marriage Thing” follows Gayle and Lorre, thirtysomething college sweethearts who marked their 15th anniversary a year after the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled a ban on same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....

 unconstitutional.

The film includes footage of protests outside the Massachusetts State House, the churches of the Reverends Rich Wiesenbach and Carlton Smith, and the state legislature leading up to May 17, 2004, the first date same-sex couples could file for marriage licenses in Massachusetts.

Interviews

The Gay Marriage Thing includes interviews with United Church of Christ
United Church of Christ
The United Church of Christ is a mainline Protestant Christian denomination primarily in the Reformed tradition but also historically influenced by Lutheranism. The Evangelical and Reformed Church and the Congregational Christian Churches united in 1957 to form the UCC...

 Reverend Richard Wiesenbach, Massachusetts State Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein, Unitarian Universalist Reverend Carlton Smith, as well as the featured couple and a multitude of man-on-the-street interviews.

Film Festivals

Artivist Film Festival Los Angeles – November 11, 2006

Boston Gay and Lesbian Film/Video Festival – May 21, 2006

Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival
The Boston Jewish Film Festival is a non-competitive annual festival that screens the best contemporary films on Jewish themes from around the world...

 – November 8, 2004 (sneak preview work in progress)

Breckenridge Festival of Film, Colorado – September 10, 2005

Camden International Film Festival
Camden International Film Festival
The Camden International Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Camden, Maine, in the United States. Created in 2004 by Benjamin Fowlie to support and generate interest in independent documentary films, the festival is a grass-roots, community-based organization.The festival has featured...

, Maine – September 30, 2005

Maine Jewish Film Festival – March 14, 2005

New England Film and Video Festival, Massachusetts – October 9, 2005

New Hampshire Film Expo – October 15, 2005

Chicago Reeling Film Festival, Chicago – November 4, 2005

Reel Identities Film Festival – New Orleans – June 11, 2005 *2nd place audience favorite

Rhode Island International Film Festival
Rhode Island International Film Festival
Flickers' Rhode Island International Film Festival takes place every year in Providence and Newport, Rhode Island as well as satellite locations throughout the state. Started in 1997, the Festival is produced by Flickers, the Newport Film/Video Society & Arts Collaborative, a 501 non-profit...

– August 11, 2005

Women on Film Festival Key West, FL – September 5, 2007

External links

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