| New Jersey car mechanic Stacie Andree and her police detective girlfriend Laurel Hester both battle to secure Hester’s pension benefits after she was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Freeheld tells the story of fearless Police Detective Laurel Hester, working to bust New Jersey drug dealers with her long-term partner and mentor, Detective Dane Wells. Though close, Laurel has never been honest with Dane about her sexual orientation and Dane nurses a long-held attraction to her. Their friendship is tested when Laurel falls in love with a younger, openly gay, car mechanic, Stacie Andree, who urges Laurel to be open about their relationship. Laurel finds the domestic happiness she’s long sought with Stacie and they buy a house together. When Laurel is diagnosed with a terminal illness, she risks coming out of the closet to ask the county commissioners (Freeholders) to grant her police pension to Stacie when she dies (as would happen automatically for any heterosexual, married couple), so Stacie can afford to stay in their home. The Freeholders refuse Laurel’s request, citing religious and budgetary reasons. Conservative Dane overcomes his own prejudices and leads the fight to reverse the decision and rallies his fellow policemen to Laurel’s cause. Stacie devotes every waking moment to saving Laurel’s life. The case draws the attention of a larger-than-life, gay, political activist, Steven Goldstein, who competes with Dane to lead the struggle, racing against the clock to right this injustice while Laurel is still alive. A Kreo Films FZ-LLC project
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