TAMPA, Fla. – The night before his husband’s funeral, Kendall Capers was told the service was cancelled.
The pastor of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Tampa learned the pair was gay and the congregation was livid.
“Regardless of our background, our sexual orientation, how can you wait that long and put someone in a bind when they’re going through a loss?” Capers asked.
Julion Evans, 42, died late last month of Amyloidosis. Evans’ family attends New Hope and wanted the funeral there.
“I felt it probably would have been best for him to be at the church, his family grew up in the church, it just made sense,” Capers said.
New Hope immediately said yes, but the invitation was abruptly revoked during the wake after the newspaper obituary named Capers as the surviving “husband.”
In this case, I think the church had the right to do what they did. I think it was extremely insensitive to cancel right before, but it was still their decision.
I am 100% pro gay marriage and gay rights.
However, each congregation has the right to practice what it believes to be "right," inside their own church.
You can't force a church to accept you, but you can find one that accepts you.
You can't force a church to marry a gay couple, but I'm sure you can find one who will.
And you can't force a church to bury you, but if they were active in a progressive church, I'm sure they could have had a christian funeral in it.
If this man was a decent, humble, loving person, and treated others as himself, then I'm sure he has ended up all right in the afterlife. And his family can have peace in that thought.
Why be pro gay marriage? I don't get it.
To quote The Dude, "You're not wrong, you're just an asshole."