Ellen Page’s Lesbian Drama With Julianne Moore Banned From Being Filmed At Catholic School
A boys’ Catholic school has banned the filming of Ellen Page and Julianne Moore’s movie, Freeheld, which is about a lesbian couple fighting to secure pension benefits after one of them is diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.
A pivotal scene in the movie had initially been agreed to be filmed at the private Catholic school, Salesian High in New Rochelle, N.Y. – but upon hearing about the subject matter, the principal, John Flaherty, and the institution’s president, Father John Serio, denied the request to have Page and the rest of the crew shoot at the location.
According to TheHollywoodReporter, in the scene in question, Moore’s character, a New Jersey police detective with terminal cancer, applies for a domestic partnership with her partner (Page) in order to pass on her pension legally after her death. The institution was to stand in for the town hall of Ocean County, New Jersey.
Michael Shamberg, a producer of Freeheld, which is based off of the 2007 Oscar-winning documentary short by the same name, stated that while he “respects their right to say no,” the situation is still “sad.”
“They turned us down because of the subject matter,” Shamberg informed TheHollywoodReporter, adding that in the past the school had approved shoots for music videos and television commercials.
Buzzfeed reports that they contacted Flaherty by email to find out why a film with LGBT content was not allowed to be filmed on the institution’s premises, and he responded by saying “All are welcomed at Salesian High School. Our School chooses to embrace the social issues such as hunger, homelessness, poverty, and helping the less fortunate.”
Then, when asked in a follow-up email for more details, Flaherty’s response was, “I will let my initial statement stand for itself.”
Page, who came out as a lesbian in February with a powerfully emotional speech, voiced her disdain on twitter.
Using religion to justify bigotry makes me sad. Sending my support 2 the LGBT students at the school who I hope r able 2 find acceptance.
— Ellen Page (@EllenPage) October 21, 2014
It’s admittedly ironic that a film about social injustice to gay couples was met with a roadblock because of its theme.
TheHollywoodReporter stated that Kelly Bush, another producer on the movie, said “Freeheld captures the inequality and bigotry that one couple faced while coping with cancer and the end of life. That our film was denied access to a location because of the subject matter — a same-sex couple fighting for their legal rights — illustrates just how important it is that this story be told.”
Fortunately for Page and Moore, another location was found in the nearby town of Rye Brook – whose mayor, Paul Rosenberg, allowed the movie to shoot the scene in his town’s city hall.
According to Shamberg, “The mayor personally came to the set and greeted us and introduced his teenage daughters to Julianne. Clearly, there are a lot of different attitudes in the area.”
