TYING THE KNOT
Directed by: Jim de Sève.
Produced by: Jim de Sève, Stephen Pelletier & Kian Tjong.
Director of Photography: Yanir Dabach, et al.
Edited by: Constance Rodger, Jim de Sève & Stephen Pelletier.
Released by: Roadside Attractions.
Country of Origin: USA. 87 min. Not Rated.

Lois Marrero was killed in the line of duty in 2001. Both she and her lover, Mickie Mashburn, worked for the Tampa Police Department.  They were married 10 years earlier in the Metropolitan Community Church.  Sam, an Oklahoma good ol’ boy, faces eviction because of his lover’s contested will. He and his partner of 22 years had raised Sam’s sons from a previous marriage. Because gay unions aren’t recognize by the State or Federal government, Mickie and Sam face an uphill battle to claim their partner’s pension and property, respectively. Intercut with their moving struggles are interviews describing the evolution of marriage. E. J. Graff, author of What is Marriage For?, provocatively traces marriage from feudal times, where it was an economic arrangement, to modern, where love takes priority over money.

The film successfully argues that gay marriage is a civil rights issue. Georgia Representative John Lewis, debating in the House of Representatives the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, quotes Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Races don’t fall in love and get married, individuals fall in love and get married.” Supporters of the DOMA and the Federal Marriage Amendment do get their say. But on an intellectual or emotional level, their arguments ring simplistic and removed. Occasionally, the film lags with gratuitous man-on-the-street interviews and a sequence of gay couples seeking marriage licenses on Valentine’s Day, but in the long run this no-frills documentary effectively appeals to the viewer’s compassion. Kent Turner
October 1, 2004