Church Cancels Funeral After Discovering Decorated Vet Was Gay

August 10, 2007 - 3:00 pm ET

(Dallas, Texas) A mega-church in Arlington, Texas has reportedly cancelled at the last minute a funeral service for a Navy veteran who died while awaiting a heart transplant after learning he was gay.

Cecil Sinclair died on Monday. He was 46.

A native of Fort Worth, Sinclair was a Navy veteran who served in Desert Storm helping rescuers find downed pilots.

Most recently he had been in failing health. Six years ago he developed a heart condition and was on a list for a transplant. On Monday he died of complications following surgery intended to keep him alive until a new heart became available.

Sinclair was not a member of any church. His brother was a member of High Point Church and when Sinclair's health began to fail members of the congregation prayed for him.

The nondenominational church is led by the Rev. Gary Simons, the brother-in-law of televangelist Joel Osteen.

When Sinclair died High Point offered to host a funeral.

But the offer suddenly and at the last minute was rescinded, the Dallas Morning News reports, when the church discovered Sinclair was gay.

Sinclair's sexuality came to light, the paper reports, when the family submitted photographs of Sinclair's life that it wanted to display at the funeral.

Among the pictures where photo's of Sinclair hugging and his partner, Paul Wagner.

"Some of those photos had very strong homosexual images of kissing and hugging," Simons told the Morning News. "My ministry associates were taken aback."

Sinclair's mother told the paper that the church never contacted her or Wagner about their decision to cancel the service. She said she learned of it late Wednesday when Sinclair's brother Lee called her.

"We could have reached a compromise," she said. "That was never attempted."

The church did offer to pay for a funeral at another location but the family turned it down. Instead the service was held Thursday night at a local funeral home.

Well, not to be too mean-spirited, but couldn't the family have thought to tell the church they guy was gay ahead of time?

It's a sensitive issue with many churches... sort of an obvious issue to get cleared up as part of the plans.

"Will the fact that the deceased was gay make any difference to your church?"

will you tell your church before your wife's (or mother's) funeral that she liked to suck dick?

That's irrelevant.

And whether it's "fair" is also beside the point.

It's sort of a no-brainer that homosexuality is going to be an issue with nearly every conservative church, and many moderate ones.

The family should have thought to bring it up and get it cleared up beforehand.

Besides, I don't have a church. I'm not Christian. But if I were planning a funeral at a Christian Church, I'd like to think I'd have the forethought to consider any factors that might conflict with the rules of that church.

Again, whether they are "fair" is completely irrelevant. It's their church. They get to make the rules.

I'm not for ONE MOMENT suggesting that they are legally liable for anything.

I'm merely pointing out the vicious bigotry of right wing Christian zealots.

My god, this isn't a political press conference - it's a war veteran's FUNERAL.

And, if you don't find telling the church about your wife or mother's sex life relevant, why is this man's sex life relevant?

Because it's relevant to the church.

I don't imagine they would want pictures of my mother or hypothetical wife with the pool boy whose dick she liked to suck.

Like it or not, that church sees both adultry and homosexuality as "sexual sins."


THAT's what makes the sex life of the deceased relevant.

I understand you aren't suggesting they be held liable.

I agree it was stupid and mean on the church's part. For starters, the guy was NOT a member of the church -- so why does it matter whether he lived by their "standards."

But given the conservative nature of the church, it should NOT have come as a surprise to the family that the church balked at the photos in question.

Wtf does it matter????? OMG.... HOW F'N LAME.

The mother clearly states that they could easily have compromised on the pictures - the church didn't give them that option.

I'm glad this church didn't hold my father's funeral. There were photos of him hugging his life-long army buddies...some with their shirts off. I'm sure it would have shocked my mother to find out that these photos were considered homoerotic by the church. And, if told she had to remove them, she would have - all the while snickering at the church elders and shaking her head in amazement.

Tris, do you remember the brouhaha that the local Catholic Church refused to hold the funeral service in one of their churches?
Then when my church heard about it, we hosted the funeral for the gay fellow that suddenly passed away. Remember that? I can't remember if I served that or not. I did so many funerals this year, even one for a close friend of mine.

Anyway, the man's family was in church two days later, thanking us. When the Catholic church relented, it was too late for them to have the service. Damage was done.