Fla. Pastor Who Denied Gay Man Funeral Sticks to His Guns

A pastor in Tampa, Fla., who came under fire last week after canceling a funeral planned for his church because the services were for a gay man, says he does not regret his decision, Tampa's CBS-affiliate station WTSP reports.

WTSP followed up with Reverend T.W. Jenkins, a pastor of New Hope Missionary Baptist Church in Tampa, Fla., and he said he's sticking to his guns over the decision to cancel a funeral service for Julion Evans, 42, after learning he was gay and married.

"Our trials come to make us strong," he told the news station.

Evans' family was devastated by Jenkins' decision and had to plan a new service at the last minute.

"I'm a normal human being trying to have a normal life and trying to celebrate my husband's loss," Kendall Capers, Evans' husband, told WTSP. "I can't even do that during my time of need when you're supposed to be there for me."

Capers added: "I know he's not here, but I haven't had a chance to grieve because of this. That was my best friend, and he's not here anymore."

Interim pastor Pressley Sutherland at Metropolitan Community Church of Tampa disagreed with Jenkins' move, saying "we will not refuse a dignified funeral" and that Capers should not have had to gone through something like that.

"We need to just be able to grieve. In this case, for a husband to grieve his husband," Sutherland said. "If we let compassion guide us, then we're not too far from the truth."

Evans' mother, Julie Atwood, said it was "blasphemous" that her son was denied a funeral because he was gay.

"It was devastating," she told WFLA, Tampa's NBC-affiliate station. "I did feel like he was being denied the dignity of death."

Evans and Capers were together for 17-years and married in Maryland in 2013. Capers said his husband died in their home after a 4-year battle with a rare illness called Amyloidosis. Capers said he never hid his marriage to Evans as he was listed as "husband" in Evans' obituary.

"Everyone who knew us knew about our relationship," he said. "We didn't keep secrets."

Atwood said the church agreed to hold the funeral, but things changed after Evan's obituary was published.

"Based on our preaching of the scripture, we would have been in error to allow the service in our church," Jenkins told WFLA last week. "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."

A new study published last month found that one out of 10 gay, lesbian or bisexual people have been discriminated against either during a funeral or while arranging one. Read more about that report here.