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Shane met Tom Bridegroom, his significant other, in 2005. Tom Bridegroom had a passion for music which lead him to co-found with Shane a popular online music blog and had begun a social media/public relations company called Bridegroom and Bitney, in 2008, which was and still continues to grow and gain clients. In 2011, a devastating accident had taken the love of Shane’s life, Tom. And suddenly, the world came crashing down on him.
“We were together for six years, and he was like the first person that I was ever in a relationship with. We built a life together, we started a business, we bought our first home together, we got a little dog together. We just had every intention of spending the rest of our lives together”, spoken from crestfallen Shane Bitney Crone, with gloomy eyes on one interview.
This video that was put up on the 6th of May 2012 on Shane Bitney Crone’s channel instantly went viral. It reached a crowning 5,036,133 plus views stirring and touching people all around the world and continuing to rack up more and more views.
In the video, he tells his tragic story in a way that will have you in tears in a matter of seconds. For almost six whole years of commitment with each other, he mentioned having to start a business and buying their own home, as well as travelling all around the world together. Having adopted a dog named JB, and telling us about how Shane’s family loved and embraced Tom. But just like any tragic story, the sad part was the unfortunate neglecting of Tom’s family with their relationship. It bore threats and physical attacks from Tom’s own father and mother who had wished to have had Tom “checked in” to the hospital sooner for medical help.
On the 7th of May in 2011, Tom took a wrong step from the rooftop and fell to his death. His body was asked by his mother to be taken back to Indiana which Tom no longer considered to be his home and have Shane pay for the funeral, but Shane did not stop her. He allowed Tom’s mother to check his bank account, and to go through their things and take it with her when she suddenly left.
Shane was promised to be updated with everything but he never did get to hear from them again. Regardless, Shane had made plans of flying to Indiana wherein he finally got a call from Tom’s father but it was to let him know that he was not welcome and that should he show up in the funeral, he would be attacked leading him not to attend instead for fear of safety.
There were no mentions of him in the obituary or funeral program. He was of no existence to Tom’s family. And to the government, Tom and Shane were just mere roommates. He was told that he had no right to any information about Tom (in the hospital), and would have to contact Tom’s family. No wills, no legal rights. Shane was powerless being rendered legally insignificant.
Sometime in Christmas, Tom had given Shane a promise ring and vowed to marry when it would be legally recognized. Had they been married, many things would have been different. Now, Shane has developed that heart -rending 10-minute video into a full-length documentary that shares his love story with Tom and calls for equal rights for the LGBT community.
From Shane’s emotional plea for rights for same-sex couples to him being an advocate for LGBT rights, a writer, speaker, and an American filmmaker, he has now vowed to devote himself to the cause of marriage equality and is currently entertaining speaking requests from around the world.
