A funeral was canceled in Tampa, Florida by a pastor who maintained that holding services for deceased gay would be "blasphemous" for the church, WFLA first reported.
According to the deceased's mother, Julie Atwood, her son's funeral's canceled after the pastor found out that her son's gay and is survived by a "husband" as stated in the obituary.
Julie notes that the cancellation of the funeral of her son, Julion Evans, has completely devastated their entire family.
"It was devastating," she said. "I did feel like he was being denied the dignity of death."
The partner of the deceased whose funeral got canceled, Kendall Capers told reporters that he and Julion had been partners for almost 17 years now and that they tied the knot in Maryland just last year.
The 42-year-old reportedly died after succumbing to a rare disease called Amyloidosis, which he battled against for nearly 4 years.
Capers maintained that his marriage to the deceased was no secret, so he is now wondering why the pastor canceled the funeral.
"Everyone who knew us knew about our relationship," he said. "We didn't keep secrets."
However, the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Tampa pastor said he was not aware that the deceased was gay until he stumbled upon the newspaper obituary that listed Capers as the surviving husband of Julion Evans, reported 12NewsNow.com.
"Based on our preaching of the scripture, we would have been in error to allow the service in our church," pastor T.W. Jenkins explained of his side. "I'm not trying to condemn anyone's lifestyle, but at the same time, I am a man of God, and I have to stand up for my principles."
Jenkins is extending his apology to the family for announcing their decision to cancel the funeral the night before the service.
Nevertheless, the Atwood family pushed through with the funeral service by holding it at the funeral home that handled the wake.
"It's not like we woke up and said let's be gay," Capers gushed. "We were born with (it) and we've dealt with it for me, 40 years, him 42 years and we make the best possible choices."
"This is 2014, this is not the 60s or the 70s," he added. "So at the end of the day I just want his wrong-doing to be exposed."
