E-Mail This Article to a Friend TYING THE KNOT

From the opening shots of the Gay Activists Alliance storming the Manhattan Marriage Bureau in 1971 to the recent and familiar footage of Massachusetts’s gay-marriage debate at the State House, Jim de Sève’s Tying the Knot provides ample historical, national, and local perspective on the issue. But this 2004 documentary also offers personal stories of real people and their inability to get marriage licenses. There’s Sam, an Oklahoma rancher (if any story rails against stereotypes, it’s his) whose partner of 22 years passes away, whereupon Sam has to fight for the house and the land on which they built a life. Lois, the partner of fallen Tampa police officer Mickie, goes through a similar ordeal when she’s denied Mickie’s pension benefits. De Sève includes just enough voices from the right to illustrate the arguments of the other side — and show how misguided they are. But the focus of Tying the Knot is on the strides the gay-marriage community has made (especially in other countries, like Holland and Canada) and is poised to make. Watching stories like Sam’s and Mickie’s, one can only hope they’re made here soon. (82 minutes)