A Catholic boys’ school has reversed its permission to allow civil rights drama Freeheld, starring Julianne Moore and Ellen Page as a lesbian couple, to shoot on location in New York State.



Salesian high school in New Rochelle, New York, had been expected to double for a town hall in Ocean County, New Jersey, where Moore’s dying police detective and her car mechanic partner (Page) apply for a domestic partnership so that pension funds can be passed on, post-mortem. But after initially approving a shoot and allowing still photographs to be taken, the school informed the film-makers that it had changed its mind. “They turned us down because of the subject matter,” producer Michael Shamberg told the Hollywood Reporter, citing the fact that the school had previously allowed music video and commercial shoots.

Shamberg has written to the school principle, John Flaherty, explaining that the film is “not about gay marriage, nor are the women attempting to get married. It is about recognising the dignity of a woman who was a brave civil servant”. In an email, he added: “I believe the theme of the movie is what Pope Francis recognised just yesterday when he called for the church to welcome and accept gay people.”



Flaherty reportedly promised to pass on the email to the school’s president, but the film-makers have since heard nothing. Freeheld is based on the life of real-life detective Laurel Hester, a 23-year veteran of the Ocean County prosecutor’s office in New Jersey, whose deathbed appeal for the rights of pension benefits to domestic partners made national headlines in 2006.

Hester’s story was previously told in an Oscar-winning short documentary film, also called Freeheld, in 2007. The title refers to the five Republican county elected representatives – known as Freeholders – who initially denied Hester’s partner the right to inherit the detective’s pension, in a move inspired by concerns over the sanctity of marriage.



Another producer, Kelly Bush, told the Hollywood Reporter: “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.”

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



However, Flaherty told Buzzfeed: “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.”



Freeheld, also starring Steve Carell, is directed by Peter Sollett of Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist fame.