Shane Bitney Crone & Tom Bridegroom

[reviews_and_ramblings]

Shane Bitney Crone (born December 19, 1985) is an American filmmaker, writer, speaker and advocate for LGBT rights. Crone made headlines in May 2012 when he released a video on YouTube titled "It Could Happen to You", in which he spoke of the devastation he faced after the death of his longtime life partner, Tom Bridegroom (April 22, 1982 - May 7, 2011), a year earlier.

Crone was born in Kalispell, Montana, and moved to Los Angeles after high school graduation.

Bridegroom was an actor, songwriter, and had also hosted the TV series The X-Effect. While Crone's own family was loving and accepting of his sexual orientation, Bridegroom's family was not, and had gone so far as to threaten Shane with physical violence and blamed Crone for "making" Tom gay. After Bridegroom was accidentally killed in a fall from a rooftop in May 2011, Crone was himself threatened with physical violence if he dared to attend Bridegroom's funeral and was not mentioned in Bridegroom's obituary or memorial service. Crone had also been denied hospital visitations and other rights accorded married couples, because he was not recognized as Bridegroom's partner or family.

Crone's emotional plea for rights for same-sex couples became one of the most widely viewed clips on YouTube shortly after its release. Crone was stunned and gratified by the reception to his video, and told RadarOnline.com he made the video as a form of therapy to help him deal with his loss and to further positive change for same-sex couples in the United States.

Bridegroom, a motion picture based on the story of Crone and Bridegroom's relationship and the difficulties Crone faced after his partner's death, premiered on April 23, 2013, at the Tribeca Film Festival. Bridegroom was endorsed by President Bill Clinton, who introduced the movie Bridegroom at the Tribeca Film Festival. In his remarks, President Clinton stated, “This is really, on one level, a wonderful, sad, heartbreaking yet exhilarating and life-affirming story,...And on another level, it’s a story about our nation’s struggle to make one more step in forming a more perfect union, for which marriage is both the symbol and substance.” Bridegroom won the Tribeca Film Festival Audience's non-fiction award.


@Scott Davis: Shane Bitney Crone Love is Louder Campaign Photo
Shane Bitney Crone is an American filmmaker, writer, speaker and advocate for LGBT rights. Crone made headlines in May 2012 when he released a video on YouTube titled "It Could Happen to You", in which he spoke of the devastation he faced after the death of his longtime life partner, Tom Bridegroom, a year earlier. Bridegroom, a motion picture based on the story of their relationship and the difficulties Crone faced after his partner's death, premiered in 2013, at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Bridegroom has been positively reviewed by the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, and Variety. "The documentary 'Bridegroom', written and directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (of 'Designing Women' fame), is a poignant, powerful tale of first love and untimely death as well as a practical, frankly undeniable, plea for marriage equality....Despite the pain, sadness and vast emotional upheaval depicted here, "Bridegroom" is also a movie filled with hope and passion, dignity and pride, and many stirring pockets of joy."

"Inspired by a viral YouTube video and deftly directed by Linda Bloodworth-Thomason (“Designing Women”), “Bridegroom” is about an unmarried gay couple in their 20s and what happens when one of them dies. That’s the simple summary of this simply told but exceptionally moving documentary. What “Bridegroom” celebrates is not simply gay rights; it’s the human spirit." "But for many, it’s precisely the sort of emotional eye-opener needed for young people to find inspiration and naysayers to reconsider their attitudes."

"In lieu of telling the story via simple white captions, the docu relies on straightforward talking-head interviews with Crone’s family and the couple’s shared circle of friends, who describe how these two closeted small-town guys clicked when they met in Los Angeles, quickly forming the kind of relationship that romantics everywhere envy…."

"After reaching many over the course of a summer-long festival run, during which it earned audience awards at Tribeca and four other sprocket operas, the touching docu opened on Oct. 4 in New York, to be followed by a few other theatrical stops."

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shane_Bitney_Crone

Further Readings:

Bridegroom
Actors: Shane Bitney Crone
Directors: Linda Bloodworth-Thomason
Language: English
Studio: Virgil Films and Entertainment
DVD Release Date: November 19, 2013
Run Time: 82 minutes
Amazon: Bridegroom

On May 7th, 2011 a young man named Shane Bitney Crone tragically lost the love of his life, Tom, to an accident. Because they weren't married or prepared for the unexpected, Shane lost all legal claim to Tom after he died. Tom's family banned Shane from the funeral and he was unable to say goodbye. On May 7th, 2012 Shane posted a video on YouTube, entitled "It Could Happen to You." He created it to honor his partner and show the world what can happen when two people are legally barred from having equal rights and equal protections under the law to marry. Shane's partner was named Tom Bridegroom.

The video went viral, passing two million views within seven days.

More LGBT Couples at my website: http://www.elisarolle.com/, My Ramblings/Real Life Romance

Comments

[shadownyc.livejournal.com]

This is such a heart-breaking story as it begins with such a deep, deep love and then the extended family comes into play.

I'm glad their story has spread all over and will be featured at Tribeca.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

when people say, even LGBT people have everything else, why they should have also marriage, I would like to tell them, see this documentary and then you will understand.

[shadownyc.livejournal.com]

ITA with you!!!

[jufin.livejournal.com]

I have the honor of being Associate Producer of the "Bridegroom" movie ... such a heartbreaking story

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

and then thank you for helping people be aware of that. May I ask you if you are in contact with Shane? I sent him an email through the website, but I had the feeling it wasn't really updated, so not sure if he is still reading that.

[jufin.livejournal.com]

Nope, I didn't talk to Shane yet. I was working with Linda. You may write to him thru his official page in Facebook.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

I guess the webpage and facebook are pretty much the same so fingers crossed the one I sent arrive to him.

[jufin.livejournal.com]

I can try and write to Linda, if this is something movie related

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

yes and no, it's related to his personal story, that is related to the movie of course. I sent the email just today, maybe if I don't receive any answer I will ask you again? let's see if it works like this.

[jufin.livejournal.com]

Sure

[gaycrow.livejournal.com]

I follow Shane on Facebook and Twitter. I found him via a YouTube channel (Shep689) run by Will and RJ, a gay couple who blog every day. They're friends of Shane. Shane's Twitter is @ShaneBitney if you'd like to follow him there.

His story is so sad, but he's managed to find a silver lining to his cloud. He seems to be such a good person. I hope he can find a loving partner again some day.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

I hope so, but I imagine the hurting is still too fresh now

[kirby-crow.livejournal.com]

I've been following Shane's & Tom's story for a few weeks now. Utterly heartbreaking. I will never, never understand how people who call themselves "good people" can intentionally inflict that much harm on a person already grieving and bereft. The way Tom's parents & family treated Shane was inhuman. :(

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

sometime people are blind to everything else, especially when they believe to be on the right side (I'm always scared by whom believe that, they can do great harm if they think everything will be condone to them)