The true story of “Spotlight” and the queer woman left out of the film

In 2012, Susan penned a letter to air her grievances with the Globe‘s taking credit without any hat tip to the Phoenix and their original reporting. She notes:

The Globe’s work on this story was phenomenal, and they deserve perhaps 90 percent of the credit for blowing the sex abuse story wide open. But they continue to insist on taking 100 percent credit. Not only does the Globe today fail to credit former Phoenix reporter Kristen Lombardi’s work, but it seems to take credit for the swarm of other stories on clergy sex abuse that popped up around the country.

She also shared this comment with Boston Magazine last year:

Until the Phoenix’s reporting, no Boston outlet had pulled together the full extent of the horror taking place within the Boston Archdiocese: Law’s knowledge of the abuse and his decision to keep pedophile priests employed, and the fact that it wasn’t the case of one bad priest, but many. The Phoenix’s reporting was so solid and convincing on these points that the Boston Herald took the extremely unusual step of calling for Law to come clean in an editorial, and cited the Phoenix reporting in its piece. The late David Brudnoy did the same on his well-regarded radio show. To say that Kristen’s reporting merely raised suspicions without proving anything shows a rather astonishing level of ignorance about her work.

Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Brian d’Arcy James, Michael Keaton and John Slattery as “Boston Globe” journalists in “Spotlight”

 

Susan also reported on issues relating to the church and the backlash it faced after the Globe‘s pieces (as highlighted in Spotlight) enlightened the public to what was going on with their local Catholic Archdiocese. In a 2006 story, she wrote:

It was one thing to edit the Phoenix’s coverage of the clergy-sex-abuse scandal as a Catholic. It was something else to edit the paper’s coverage of 9/11 as, well, an American. But it was another thing entirely to direct the paper’s coverage of the story of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts. For me, a lesbian raising a child with my partner of 20 years, the story of Goodridge v. Dept. of Public Health was personal in a way the clergy-sex-abuse and 9/11 stories weren’t. I was deeply engaged — and enraged — by the first two stories. But the story of same-sex marriage in Massachusetts changed my life.

Since leaving the Phoenix, Susan worked as the editor of New Engladn’s LGBT publication, Bay Windows, and has even contributed to the Globe, including a piece last summer on how American policies on LGBT rights directly affects how LGBTs are treated in other nations. Susan now works in consulting and has worked with several LGBT clients including the Family Equality Council, GLAD, and MassEquality.

Is Spotlight a great film? Yes. But does it oversimplify the events of what really happened and fail to credit two women who played a large part in the ultimate take down celebrated in the Oscar-winning piece of, ultimately, fiction. Considering there is only one woman in the final product (played by Rachel McAdams), it seems like one giant missed opportunity.

Source of Article AfterEllen