OK, this could be possibly the most awesome moment I’ve seen at the Academy Awards in a long time. Freeheld, the documentary about New Jersey police Lt. Laurel Hester’s fight to receive pension benefits for her partner, Stacie Andree, when Hester was diagnosed with terminal cancer, won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject. It is a well deserved honor for a heartbreaking and inspiring story.
Whoever decided that the presenters for the award should be members of the U.S. military talking by satellite from Iraq, however, deserves recognition for a little stroke of political genius. Kudos to the servicemembers, who didn’t flinch when announcing the film.
Garden State Equality, in conjunction with director Cynthia Wade, has just released a video of Lt. Hester that she recorded days before she died. Worth a few moments of your time. Have tissues handy.
Thanks for pointing this out. I caught the acceptance speech just as it was ending and was upset I missed it.
Take care,
Jen