A lesbian woman have been denied funeral service by Colorado church after the family declined to remove photos of her showing affection to her wife.
Vanessa Collier, 33, died in December and her funeral service was scheduled at New Hope Ministries in Lakewood, Colo., on Jan. 10. But shortly before the service was set to begin, New Hope’s Pastor Ray Chavez discovered that the family’s memorial video contained photos of Collier kissing her wife. And the family instead decided to move the service elsewhere.
“They said that they didn’t agree with her alternative lifestyle,” Dawnnetta Pierce-Fernandez, Collier’s friend of 15 years told The Washington Post. “They gave the family the option to edit the video and the family decided that they were not going to allow Vanessa’s life to be edited.”
“It’s devastating — and disgusting, honestly,” she added.
On Tuesday afternoon, friends and family of Collier protested outside the church, calling for “Dignity in Death” for Collier and other gay people.
“Pastor Ray Chavez and New Hope Ministries Cancelled the funeral of our friend 15 minutes after it was to have begin,” they said on a Facebook page announcing the protest. “Her casket was open, flowers laid out and hundreds of people sitting in the pews.”
“You will not find Jesus at New Hope but you will find hypocrisy,” one sign said, according to the Denver Post.
“We want them to apologize publicly to the family and the friends,” Pierce-Fernandez said.
“They said that they didn’t agree with her alternative lifestyle,” Dawnnetta Pierce-Fernandez, Collier’s friend of 15 years told The Washington Post. “They gave the family the option to edit the video and the family decided that they were not going to allow Vanessa’s life to be edited.”
“It’s devastating — and disgusting, honestly,” she added.
On Tuesday afternoon, friends and family of Collier protested outside the church, calling for “Dignity in Death” for Collier and other gay people.
“Pastor Ray Chavez and New Hope Ministries Cancelled the funeral of our friend 15 minutes after it was to have begin,” they said on a Facebook page announcing the protest. “Her casket was open, flowers laid out and hundreds of people sitting in the pews.”
“You will not find Jesus at New Hope but you will find hypocrisy,” one sign said, according to the Denver Post.
“We want them to apologize publicly to the family and the friends,” Pierce-Fernandez said.
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