New York, 1960. Faced with the threat of anti-gay violence, LUCY's girlfriend decides to enter a sham marriage, leaving Lucy to face a tough choice: put up with hiding in the closet, or leave.
New York, 1960. Lucy Bledsoe, 30s, blond, femme, and highly intelligent, lives a quiet life in the Village with her girlfriend, Phyllis Thatcher, an artist and nurse. Lucy has a Ph.D. but works as a science editor. She is particularly fascinated by the new field of glaciology, an offshoot of geology. Lucy has an enticing job offer at an ice lab in Chicago, but has turned it down. Out at a picnic one night with their friends Harry and Fred (a gay couple), a group of drunks attacks the men violently; Phyllis drags Lucy out of harm’s way, but is shaken to the core. Harry and Fred drop by to let Phyllis minister to their wounds. After Lucy goes to bed, Phyllis and Fred, who are traumatized by the attack, hatch a plan: they will get married, to provide the veneer of safety and respectability, making it possible for Phyllis to have a child. Each intends to continue their respective queer relationship, on the sly. When Phyllis presents this plan to Lucy, she is enraged and utterly heartbroken. She hides in the Cold Room at work, bereft, then returns home to face Phyllis. They have reached an impasse: Phyllis is determined to marry Fred. Lucy has had enough. She is going to leave Phyllis, abandoning her life in New York in the process.
