Lesbian filmmaker Cynthia Wade hopes her Oscar-nominated short, Freeheld, will shape public opinion on domestic partner rights.

by Paul E. Pratt
photo by Heidi Gutman

When Cynthia Wade first read about Lt. Laurel Hester’s legal battles in late 2005, she had no idea it was the first step toward an Oscar nomination. In fact, with a toddler and newborn at home, the New York-based filmmaker insists she was not even looking for her next documentary project. “But,” Wade concedes, “it just sounded so compelling.”

Hester, an openly lesbian New Jersey policewoman diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, was gaining media attention amid struggles to leave her pension to domestic partner Stacie Albee. Local officials, the Ocean County Freeholders, denied the transfer, despite such a request being automatic for heterosexual county employees.

Drawn to the story of “a strong female character fighting for what is right,” Wade traveled the hour-and-a-half to Ocean County, N.J., to film a meeting between Hester and the Freeholders. Ten minutes after her camera started rolling, Wade was sold—and that footage became the opening sequence in her Academy Award-nominated short film, Freeheld.

Shot in chronological order, the 38-minute film documents the last 10 weeks of Lt. Hester’s life—both public and intensely private—and her fight to provide the best possible care for the woman she loved after her death. As Hester’s health erodes, she and Albee have no choice but to accept the inevitable while the Freeholders play a waiting game to keep from granting the veteran officer’s dying wish.

While Freeheld draws strength from its central lesbian couple, Wade feels the supporting characters make the film truly unique. In particular, she points to members of the Ocean County Police Department who showed up to testify on behalf of Hester and her partner. She notes, “These heterosexual cops, who come from this really macho, male-dominated industry, become unlikely gay activists because it suddenly hits home.

“It’s suddenly personal when they see one of their best police partners denied rights they automatically have, to pass their pensions to their wives,” explains Wade, whose past work includes the award-winning HBO examination of animal euthanasia, Shelter Dogs, and acclaimed PBS documentary, Taken In: The Lives of America’s Foster Children. “In that way, I feel the film can transcend and move beyond the GLBT audience.”

Wade notes the importance of reaching heterosexual audiences. As the story did with the policemen who campaign for Hester’s cause, she feels the film can help create social change.

“This is everybody’s responsibility,” shares Wade, “I was particularly moved to watch those cops, in particular conservative-voting Dane Wells, Laurel’s first police partner, really come around and understand why this is a civil rights issue.”

To this end, the director frequently paired the screenings of Freeheld required for Oscar consideration with a panel discussion about domestic partner rights. The film screened in 26 states, including many “red states” where such benefits are often contested. Wade—who will be accompanied to the Academy Awards later this month by Albee—says she is elated to add an Oscar nod to her filmmaking resume, but more interested in the nomination’s ability to bolster discussion on the topic.

“I’m hoping as we move into this election time, and in November, when equality initiatives will be on so many ballots, people will keep the story of Laurel Hester in their hearts and in their minds,” she says. “I hope they remember the way she was discriminated against and remember that when they vote.”

For more information, go to www.freeheld.com.