Denver Pastor Brings Funeral To Halt Upon Learning Deceased Was Lesbian

Vanessa Collier

Fifteen minutes into the funeral for Vanessa Collier, Pastor Ray Chavez stopped the memorial after realizing the deceased mother of two had been lesbian. Chavez refused to continue the service until images of Collier with her wife were removed from display.

From ThinkProgress:

According to the Denver Post, Chavez said he would only continue the service if images of Collier and her wife, positioned around the casket, were removed. The family, outraged, refused, and “picked up programs, flowers and eventually the dead woman’s casket itself” before relocating at a mortuary across the street. The scores of attendees, many of them reportedly lesbians themselves, followed suit, abandoning the church.

“It was humiliating,” Victoria Quintana, Collier’s friend, told the Denver Post. “It was devastating.”

Hurt and frustrated, dozens of friends and supporters of Collier reconvened in front of New Hope Ministries on Tuesday to protest the pastor’s decision. Holding images of the deceased, who police say is thought to have committed suicide, the demonstrators shouted chants of “Give us an apology!” and “Shame on Pastor Ray!”

According to the group’s Facebook page, the protestors also noted that Chavez, who reportedly referred to Collier’s sexuality as an “alternative lifestyle,” has yet to refund the family the cost of the funeral.