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Couple long for their home
Lesbian couple who left Virginia as a result of anti-gay legislation making their home in Maryland
By LAURA L. HUTCHISON
Date published: 12/30/2005
By LAURA L. HUTCHISON
Barbara Kenny and Tibby Middleton's lives have been filled with change in recent months.
They packed up their Fredericksburg townhouse in April. They left their friends, their church and Kenny's mental-health practice, and moved to Maryland.
And the women, who'd spent 40 years together very quietly, suddenly became the face of gay rights in Virginia.
The longtime Fredericksburg-area residents decided to leave Virginia after an addition to the state's 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."
The law could be interpreted to mean that legal arrangements same-sex couples make to protect each other--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.
A year ago, a 38-minute documentary about the law and the couple's decision to leave was screened at the local Unitarian Universalist Fellowship. It was made by the couple's friend and fellow church member, Suzanne Moe. Thousands now have seen it in churches, universities and gatherings around the country.
Kenny and Middleton have been featured in newspaper articles, online blogs, and recently as the cover story of The Washington Post Magazine.
On Dec. 10, the one-year anniversary of the documentary's debut in Fredericksburg, it was shown to the couple's new congregation in Frederick.
"That date was our goodbye to the life we'd lived for decades," Middleton said. "It became here, one year later, our major introduction to the people here in our church and the community."
Middleton said their move has been a blessing for their family. Middleton spends more time helping with her granddaughter and 70-year-old sister. Kenny has done a lot of work at Middleton's daughter's home. The thought of setting up a new practice in a town where she knows so few people was too overwhelming.
None of it has been easy. Both women are 66, and neither wanted to uproot their life in Fredericksburg.
Date published: 12/30/2005
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