They're Jewish,
they're grandmothers,
and they're lesbians.

RUTHIE AND CONNIE: EVERY ROOM IN THE HOUSE is a film about love and friendship -- and the price two women paid to be themselves.

1959: A working class Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn. Two young married women, both raising young children, meet and become friends -- and soon after, the best of friends. They live in the same building. They go to the same synagogue. They are Ruthie Berman and Connie Kurtz, conventional housewives of the 1950's, with two noteworthy exceptions: their passionate interest in community issues gradually turns them into community leaders … and their passionate interest in each other suddenly turns their world upside down.

1974: Ruthie and Connie fall in love, leave their husbands and children and move in with each other. To them and their friends, it feels like an earthquake.

Connie says, "People want to know why I would leave a marriage that was so ABC nice. I was going for completion. I talk more to Ruthie in ten days than I did to Bernie in eighteen years of marriage."

Ruthie describes the early stages as "the agony and the ecstasy": the ecstasy of loving Connie; the agony of being a lesbian. When they first move in together, Ruthie buys two ceramic plaques for their bedroom doors: "RUTHIE'S ROOM" and "CONNIE'S ROOM" -- so that when Ruthie's kids visit, they will believe the "room-mate" story.

Ruthie has a real bad case of homophobia. At one point she considers jumping off the Verrazano Bridge. The way she sees it, it would be easier for her children to deal with her death than with the shame of having a lesbian mother.

1976: Eventually, Ruthie becomes ill and almost dies. When she recovers, she realizes that the cause of her illness lies in the secrets she has kept hidden away for far too long. It's time to come out of the closet-- and, in true Ruthie style, she comes out in a very big way.

1988: Ruthie and Connie sue the New York City Board of Education for domestic partner benefits. Overnight, they become national heroines - and after a five-year struggle, they make history again when they win those benefits not only for themselves, but for all New York City employees. Their successful lawsuit results in television appearances on both the "Donahue" and "Geraldo" talk shows -- during which they literally fly out of the closet in full view of millions of Americans.

2002: Today, they're still activists. Their workshops for homophobic gays and lesbians, and their families, are a Mecca for many. Whether marching in the Gay Pride Parade or dancing on the Coney Island boardwalk, they are funny, passionate, angry - and always entertaining. They talk. They argue. They swim. They cook. They dance. They laugh. They rage against injustice. They cry. They sing old tunes. They are unabashedly romantic.

When asked whether their 'earthquake' was worth it, Ruthie answers, "It was destined for Connie and me to be together. It's like riding a bicycle built for two and we don't have to say, 'start with the left.' We know which foot to start with."