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.”
