We interrupt this whinefest....

Did you not read any of the posts on here? It costs thousands of dollars to draft up such documents, and even then there is no guarantee of the legal security that a marriage would bring.

Go *beep* yourself.

... to keep things in perspective.

I don't understand the heterocentric perspective of yours that a man and a woman are capable of having a loving relationship, whereas two men can only have "sexual behavior" and a "lifestyle stemming from such behavior". Apparently, you've glossed over the fact that this movie documents the *relationship* that develops between these two men, and by dousing the film in your own moral slant, you completely missed the human rights point:

The film did not seek to explore whether or not Shane was legally entitled to control Tom's final affairs, estate, etc; he obviously was not. Instead, the film reports the events that occurred and allows the viewer to decide whether or not the protections and laws for same sex couples are moral and just with respect to equality and human civil rights.

Lesson to be learned: Humans are more than their genitalia. Don't wait until yours shrivels up and falls off to learn that human relationships (while not without risk of loss) are among the most profoundly gratifying of all of life's experiences and all parties deserve to be treated with dignity and respect regardless of the aforementioned genitalia involved.

On paper, I can agree, Tom's parents have no obligation and yes a will, as expensive as it can be, should be drafted if you truly want your partner where is a straight or no-straight, to have control over what happens to you after you die.

Now, the moral of the story here is that Tom had a lot of friends and a partner that clearly made him happy for not just a couple of months but years. They lived together, his mother had somewhat accepted the fact that her son was in a relationship with Shane.

So the simple fact that Tom's family went as far as trying to keep everything away from Shane, after Tom's death, is what speaks about their character. To me it shows that they're under the belief that Tom was only gay because of Shane and because of moving to LA. They saw Tom's sexuality as of someone that was addicted to meth and I'm sure they think that Tom's death was karma for "choosing" to be gay. I'm sure they're under the impression that their son is burning in hell as well, you know for choosing to be gay. I strongly believe that gay people are born that way and not chose to just become gay. I mean, why if it was a choice would so many people commit suicide because they're gay? If people hate the way you are and you have the ability to say "okay, I wont feel this way and be this way" and you could do it, then I guess we wouldn't have gay people, right? The simple fact that homosexual can't just turn straight is the same fact as to why straight people can't turn gay. it's not a choice, its who you were born.

Its time for you to die!

It's not a question of obligation, it's a question of morality and empathy. What his parents did was disgusting and an absolute disrespect to his memory. The documentary is a tribute. One thing the Bridegroom family couldn't do was take away the freedom of speech and they have obviously seriously underestimated the power/courage of the people that were able to respect/love him in ways they wouldn't. Truth exposed, what they did was disgusting deal with it .