Tibby Middleton (left) and Barbara Kenny play their guitars together at home. They're leaving Virginia because of a law that may invalidate legal documents they have to protect each other. rls

Documentary about local couple is now being distributed

By LAURA L. HUTCHISON

Date published: 3/13/2005

Couple's story being shared

When Fredericksburg artist Suzanne Moe first picked up her video camera to make a documentary about her friends, she never could have imagined the paths it would take her down.

She wanted to tell the story of Barbara Kenny and Tibby Middleton, a lesbian couple who'd been a vital part of the Fredericksburg community for years. They were her friends, and a Virginia law that went into effect last year made them feel they had to leave the state they'd called home for decades.

The documentary was intended to explain to friends at the Unitarian Universalist fellowship, which Moe and the couple both attend, why they had to leave.

But the small documentary turned into a big project, and now Moe's film is being distributed around the state and the country.

"Inform, educate and activate," Moe said. "That is our mission."

Kenny, 65, and Middleton, 66, were at first reluctant to be the focus of the documentary.

They've been together for 40 years and lived a quiet life. Few people even knew they were a couple. They'd never been activists.

In fact, when The Free Lance-Star first wrote about them in January, they were afraid to have their last names or images used, because they feared the response.

But a law they said was intended to "squash and to hurt us" changed their lives.

Kenny and Middleton decided to leave the state after an addition to the Affirmation of Marriage Act became law in July 2004. It says that people of the same sex can't enter into legal agreements "purporting to bestow the privileges or obligations of marriage."

Depending on interpretation of the law, it could mean that legal arrangements same-sex couples make to protect one another--such as medical directives and wills--could be called into question.

Kenny has a brain aneurysm, and because of that, the couple were afraid to stay in Virginia to see how the new law would be interpreted and enforced.

Much of the couple's courage in allowing the film's release, Middleton said, is a result the response they received after The Free Lance-Star story was published.

"People went out of their way to support us, tell us we were brave, to say they were having doors opened for them or members of their family because of what we'd done," Middleton said. "We were floored how many people had a sister, daughter, friend

"We felt the need to continue down that path."

Moe also was encouraged by the public support.

"The Fredericksburg community really held them up," she said. "Barbara and Tibby were strengthened by the flow of compassion and support, and were able to see the good their story could serve by sharing it with a wider audience. I admire their courage."

The couple's family also was supportive of sharing the story with more people.

But first Moe had to copyright her material and get countless releases.

Everyone Moe needed permission from granted it.

Date published: 3/13/2005