THEGAYUK WINTER 13 /14 Issue 1
INTERVIEW
from you, it’s
just not right.’
family should he dare to show his
face.
However Shane
was able to see
Tom. Shane
recalls the
moment he saw
his partner for
the last time,
The documentary, which was made
by Linda Bloodworth Thomason
contains so many photos and
footage of the two men happily in
love. Six years together provides a
lot of footage and pictures – I
wonder how it felt for Shane to
revisit old photos.
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‘Fortunately I
had one of my
best friends
there who was
able to fight and
argue with the
‘(In) a lot of hospitals across the
nurses to let me see him. A nurse
US, and in particular this one, it’s
risked her job and she just snuck us
their policy, unless you’re a legal
family member they won’t share any back into his room – but at the time
I didn’t realise that it would be the
information with you,’ Shane says
with the sound of deep regret in his last time I would ever be with him.
voice.
‘I didn’t think that I wouldn’t be
able to go to his funeral or his burial
‘When I got to the ER I don’t even
and properly say goodbye.’
know how long it was before he
passed away, because they wouldn’t
Sadly after Tom’s death his family
tell us anything.
cut Shane completely from the
funeral arrangements and even
‘I was in complete shock and it was
from the service itself. Tom’s family
hard to really process what was
had never been accepting of his
happening, when they told me I
sexuality. There’s a disheartening
couldn’t see him. It was just
story in the documentary where
devastating and I was just so
Tom even had a gun pulled on him
confused.
by his own father after he heard
about his relationship with Shane.
‘It’s very upsetting, because when
you’re committed to someone and
When Shane travelled Indiana to
you want to spend the rest of your
attend Tom’s funeral he received a
life with them and this could
phone call which alerted him to
potentially be your last mo ment
with them or to ever see them - and threats of abuse from some of Tom’s
for someone to take that right away
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‘It was hard at times going through
all the old footage, but at the same
time it was healing in a lot of ways.
I’m just so grateful that we have as
much footage as we do have. It’s a
little embarrassing on one level that
we have so much, but I think it’s
part of our generation.’
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Does he still video diary anymore?
‘I don’t, I think it’d be too bizarre.
One of the reasons I did a video
diary was as an outlet for me, it
made me feel connected to Tom in a
way.
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‘It started back in High School as a
way to feel like I wasn’t burdening
anyone.
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‘Sometimes it feels like people know
me better than I know myself,
because I’ve put myself out there.’
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What does he want the documentary
to achieve?
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