Bridegroom documentary on OWN and Netflix

[lilwriter85]

Tonight, Bridegroom is premiering on OWN. It tells the story of Shane Bitney Crone who was banned from the funeral of his partner Tom Bridegroom by Tom's family. The documentary is going to focus on gay rights, domestic partnerships, and gay marriage. It will be premiering at 10 pm eastern time. I believe it will be released on Netflix today too.

 

 

[Hilda]

Was his partner's last name really Bridegroom?

[lilwriter85]

Was his partner's last name really Bridegroom?

Yup.

[Hilda]

Yup.

Wow, I never heard of anyone with that last name before.

[Hilda]

This is a sad story. Apparently, Mr. Bridegroom died from injuries sustained when he fell from a roof while taking photos.

Here's a picture of the couple taken in happier times (I think that Tom might be the one on top):

[PennySycamore]

I watched this twice last evening. It was so touching and heartbreaking. It reminded me of an old friend from high school. I remember reading his obituary in the paper. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from Furman University, was Phi Beta Kappa, and went to the University of Southern California to med school. It was as if his life ended then. There was no mention in his obit about his specialty, his interests and especially nothing of his partner. His family asked that there privacy be respected and that when I knew that Eddie had died of complications of HIV/AIDS. A year or two later, I was privileged to go with some friends from the local MCC congregation to see the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt the last time it was able to be displayed in it entirety on the National Mall. One of my friends and I were talking. He was placing a panel for his late lover who had been best friends with Eddie in high school. Both of them were in the closet at this time, but they weren't always.

RIP Eddie Lombard, Roger's lover and Tom Bridegroom

[Mela99]

I can't even watch the promos without stabbing myself in the heart....

[lilwriter85]

I watched the original airing on Sunday and I had recorded it on my DVR. I watch it again earlier today. It was very heartbreaking and I felt really bad for Shane because he endured bullying in his teen years and found happiness with Tom and then lost Tom. I was boiling up with anger during the later parts of the documentary.

[NellieBell]

Was his partner's last name really Bridegroom?

It was & I know his family I'm ashamed to say. I was born in the same hospital as Tom & both of my parents were born there. I still go there regularly & ran into his Mom at the drugstore a couple of weeks ago. His parents aren't a bit embarrassed or ashamed of their vile actions & sadly, most of the community supports them.

[NellieBell]

In the picture that is Tom on the top.

Here's a link to his FindAGrave memorial: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cg ... 30&df=all&