The funeral was ready: the casket was open, the flowers were out, the viewing was over and the memorial was 15 minutes away - and then, the pastor cancelled the service because the deceased woman's picture was displayed on a remembrance video and it showed her with her wife and two children.
Vanessa Collier's funeral was cut short on Saturday because the minister of New Hope Ministries in Lakewood, Colo., said no indication of Collier's "alternative lifestyle" could be present during the memorial, according to The Denver Post. Pastor Ray Chavez halted the services for the 33-year-old and the mourners had to transfer people, programs, flowers and the casket to a mortuary across the street.
Friends of the decedent were heartbroken. "It was humiliating," Victoria Quintana told The Denver Post. "It was devastating."
"A church turning away a funeral. Who has ever heard of anything like that happening?" Jeanette Arguello, another friend of Collier's, told The Denver Post.
New Hope Ministries declined to comment, according to The Denver Post.
Four dozen protestors assembled outside the church on Tuesday, shouting "Give us an apology!" and carrying signs with messages such as, "You will not find Jesus at New Hope but you will find hypocrisy," according to The Denver Post. The protests have been given the social media label, "Dignity in Death," according to Denver News 9, the NBC affiliate.
"I am a child of a lesbian mother and if my mom was to die, I would want Dignity in her Death," Collier's friend, Jose Silva, told Denver's ABC 7. "I am against bigotry and stand with my friend's family in seeking an apology and refund from Pastor Ray Chavez and New Hope Ministries. The acts that took place at her funeral were wrong and no family should ever have to go through that."
"Certain events were not going to be allowed to take place according to the church," David Campanella, area manager for Newcomer Funeral Home where services were moved, told The Denver Post. "In talking with family we decided it would be best to have the services here."
Chaplain Gary Rolando presided over the relocated service and told Denver News 9 he thinks it is shameful that Collier's friends and family are using the cancelled funeral as a reason to promote a cause. "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.
Friends of Collier's said the pastor had ample opportunity to cancel the services well in advance. The church was given the video of Collier that included a photo of her kissing her wife a week before services.
Collier died on Dec. 30. Thornton police suspect the cause of death was suicide, according to The Denver Post. Denver News 9 reported that Collier died while cleaning her gun. She is survived by her wife and two daughters, 12 and 8.
According to The Denver Post, New Hope Ministry has not reimbursed Collier's family for the cancelled funeral.