Catholic School Bans Filming of LGBT Movie ‘Freeheld’ Starring Ellen Page & Julianne Moore

A Catholic school banned a gay rights movie from filming on the location. The movie stars Ellen Page and Julianne Moore.

The movie "Freeheld" is presently filming in New York. The location scout of the film was initially informed that Salesian High School had given permission to film a scene inside the premises. However, the all-boys Catholic school in New Rochelle later withdrew its decision. BuzzFeed reported that producer Michael Shamberg had approached John Flaherty, the principal of the school. Flaherty asked Shamberg to send the filming request through an email so that it could be forwarded to Father John Serio, the president of the school. However, Shamberg did not get any reply from the authorities since then. Shamberg said that he would respect the school's right "to say no." However, he called it sad.

The scene of the movie has been shot in another location. BuzzFeed, in the meantime, contacted the school authorities for an explanation of its cold shoulder toward the project. "All are welcomed at Salesian High School," Flaherty replied, "Our School chooses to embrace the social issues such as hunger, homelessness, poverty, and helping the less fortunate." However, when BuzzFeed asked him to be more specific about his reasons not to allow a film with LGBT content to be filmed in the school campus, he said that he would let his initial statement "stand for itself."

Page, one of the major actresses in the film about a lesbian couple, later tweeted her reaction on the ban. She wrote that it made her sad that religion had been used to justify bigotry. She sent her support to the LGBT students at the school. She also hoped that they would be able to find acceptance. The movie takes its hint from Cynthia Wade's Oscar-winning documentary film in 2007 that shows the true events happened to New Jersey police officer Laurel Hester. She decided to pass on her pension benefits to her partner Stacie Andree after she had been diagnosed with cancer.

The production apparently required a building like the Salesian's that could be used as a town hall where the lesbian couple had applied for a civil union.

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

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au