Protest held after Colo. church denies lesbian funeral

Ryan Haarer | KUSA-TV, Denver

Show Caption Hide Caption Church rejects lesbian's funeral photos, sparks protest A "Dignity in Death" rally was held Tuesday afternoon for a lesbian woman whose funeral last week was moved after a Lakewood, Colorado church rejected photos that were used in a memorial video.

LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A "Dignity in Death" rally was held Tuesday afternoon for a lesbian who was denied a funeral at New Hope Ministries in Lakewood last week.

Vanessa Collier's friends say the funeral was canceled by the church 15 minutes after the service was supposed to start because the church would not allow a picture to be shown of Collier proposing to her wife. The open casket and flowers were in place and about 170 people were in attendance.

Collier, 33, died when her gun went off while cleaning it.

Chaplain Gary Rolando said New Hope Ministry welcomes those who are gay but asks that alternative lifestyles be censored while in the church. New Hope Ministries did not comment on the decision.

Rolando said that moments before the funeral service, a video that was supposed to be played was reviewed by church officials. The church asked that the video to be edited. Rolando said the family refused to take the picture of Collier's proposal out of the video.

The funeral had to be moved to the Newcomer Funeral Home mortuary across the street, where Rolando presided.



Rolando said Collier's friends are using her death to push an agenda. But her friends are angry. Many showed up to protest the church's decision on Tuesday afternoon.



"My prayer is the same as that of New Hope Ministry and Newcomer Mortuary: That the Collier family will be able to move forward from here in healing and peace," Rolando said.



One friend, Jose Silva who went to high school with Collier, said he "thought it was a prank" when he was told the funeral was canceled at New Hope Ministries. He said the video should have been reviewed on Thursday when it was dropped off ahead of the Saturday funeral.



"It's about understanding that there should be dignity in death and that everybody deserves the right to be celebrated in the right way," Silva said. "And that lack of oversight, and lack of personal ideals and values, should never trump being able to celebrate someone's life."

Collier is survived by her wife and two children.