source: The Freedom to Marry

The Freedom to Marry_720(480P)

source: The Freedom to Marry

I saw F2M in December as a special showing/fundraiser and it was riveting. The theater was full with people needing a reminder that change is possible and change will happen. The documentary felt like a slow, unfolding mystery. Even though I knew how it would end, though, the way it got there was the real story. Like All The President's Men, this was the story of how a story became a story. The pacing was perfect: detailed, personal, telling multiple stories at once. Really fun to watch and such an important reminder of what people can do despite a political climate. Love can win.

Even if you don't love docs, and even if you aren't involved in gay issues - see this film. It's really a great ride, and super inspirational. Some friends took us to see it at the Savannah Film Festival. It definitely wasn't my first choice of a film to see. I wanted to see a fiction film, to be honest. But boy am I glad we went! As they say in the old commercials, "I laughed, I cried." I know it went on to win best documentary at Savannah. I hope it wins a lot more awards. Deserves it.

Greetings again from the darkness. The film takes us back more than forty years to a 1973 poll that found the majority of the people in the United States felt homosexuality was immoral. That's what the folks at the non-profit organization Freedom To Marry had to overcome in their decades long fight to win the right for legal gay marriage. Filmmaker Eddie Rosenstein offers up a behind the scenes, and very detailed look at the history, strategy, and tactics used by the group to reach their goals. In 1983 Evan Wolfson wrote his Harvard thesis on why gay marriage is moral and just. After that, and because of it, Mr. Wolfson became the driving force, the leader, and the face of the movement for gay marriage rights … as well as the Director of the Freedom To Marry organization. This is really the inside story and a chronological legal and political history of the push for gay marriage. The fight is truly a Civil Rights movement of rallies and marches – both for and against. We witness the revolution one conversation at a time, and the film counts down the days to the Supreme Court arguments, as well as the final decision. 102 days until the Supreme Court arguments open … and a reminder that about a decade prior there were zero firms that allowed gay marriage. Much time is spent with Mary Benauto, the chief litigator for the cause, and a true champion of legal gay rights. It's Evan Wolfson who dominates the film, and rightly so. He's known as "The Marriage Guy" and "The Paul Revere of Gay Marriage". We witness him leading many important meetings and consistently working towards the goal. He explains to us that AIDS shattered the silence of the community, as the movement shifted from "leave us alone" to "let us in". As Ms. Benauto explains, "I do this work because people just want to be who they are"; but it's Evan who makes his mission clear when he states, "I always believed we would win". The film is an extraordinary look at a vital part of Civil Rights history, complete with heroes.

One of those disgusting and perverted things that causes enormous damage to our children. The far left side schooling that serves only for destroying the institution of family and youth as we know! The results of these perversions are visible all around us! Don't let THEM to brainwash your kids!!! KEEP THEM SAFE!!! One of those disgusting and perverted things that causes enormous damage to our children. The far left side schooling that serves only for destroying the institution of family and youth as we know! The results of these perversions are visible all around us! KEEP YOUR CHILDREN SAFE!

As a college student I found this movie fantastically interesting and inspiring. Becoming an adult in a world as struggling as this one can seem overwhelming and scary. The Freedom to Marry is a film that makes change seem possible. It shows how each action that seems like just a drop in the bucket does make a difference and can when people come together and fight for something as ubiquitously precious as love, they can't be held back. The film is a triumph for love, empowering change, and understanding humanity that makes me, a college student, driven to improve this country and the world. In other words - can't recommend it enough.

You might be tired of the LGBT hoopla over the last few years, but you might be curious about the history of the movement that led to outlawing the banning of gay marriages just last year, thanks to The Supreme Court. The Freedom to Marry is a first-rate doc about the activities leading up to that monumental decision. Evan Wolfson occupies the prime spot in this comprehensive and accessible recounting of the struggle between liberal and conservative believers about gay marriage. The doc takes an almost neutral stance, letting supporters of the gay movement and the defense of traditional marriage duke it out. Because most of the shots are of supporters, the testimony of the opposition takes a starring role too, so necessary in any doc or debate on such an incendiary topic. Director Eddie Rosenstein takes a moderate approach as he concentrates on the drama leading up to the SCOTUS decision rather than beating us up with the liberal agenda. As charismatic as Wolfson is, Mary Bonauto, who argues the case in front of the Court, is cool and efficient, and of course successful. One of the finest sequences shows her listening to the recorded trial and stopping the recording to comment on her testimony. Although she does not brag about her part in any way, her sheer competence comes out regardless. If you're a history buff, you will enjoy the accurate arc of success several years out. If you are a liberal who gets off on great movements like this, you will not be disappointed. If you are a cinephile, you will delight in the doc craftsmanship integrating talking heads with historical footage for a complete film siding with the tide of humanitarian sympathy for freedom of expression characteristic of the U.S.A.