***
A Secret Love- (Netflix)

We came to this documentary film believing it was about a pioneering case that challenged the law about same-sex couples and helped to make ground breaking precedent. We were obviously mistaken in our expectation. Who we did meet were two amazing women, Pat Henschel and Terry Donahue, the latter of whom had been an established professional women’s baseball player in her younger years. They did find romance in a time when love between women was usually not openly expressed. The film was directed by Chris Bolan who is the great nephew of Ms. Donahue. The movie followed these women into their senior years and we see how their families came to accept them and how they transitioned into a senior living facility. This is a touching movie about a love affair between two women, which will inspire future generations of women who might now be more able to openly express such feelings.

****

Freeheld-sp

This is a true story that needed to be told. It is about Laurel Hester, a gay woman, Ocean County police officer in New Jersey who developed end-stage cancer and wanted to leave her pension to her domestic partner Stacy, which was not allowed by the local government. Ten years after this event, filmmaker Cynthia Wade produced an award-winning short documentary film about this moving battle. Now, producers Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher decided to make a feature film to tell this story. They teamed up with director Peter Sollett and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner. Academy Award-winning actress Julianne Moore played Laurel and Ellen Page came on board to take role of young girlfriend along with an excellent supporting cast which included Steve Carell. The result is an emotionally touching experience that not only shows clearly the discrimination that these two brave women faced but also put us inside their hopes, aspirations and most of all their feelings for each other.

The outright unfairness of these women who were being denied that which heterosexual couples would take for granted is clearly put before the viewers. The subject of this movie is still being played out in the public arena today. The State of New Jersey did go on to pass legislation allowing domestic partners to be treated the same as married couples and of course the Supreme Court now ruled that same sex marriages are legal. Unfortunately, there is still the persistence of non-acceptance of this ruling in many places. It takes a film such as this one to tell the story in an unforgettable manner that allows the viewers to have an emphatic understanding of the people and the issues involved. (2016).