Pastor refuses dying man a funeral because his son is gay
A 71-year-old man who is currently lying on his deathbed was told by his local pastor that he couldn’t have his funeral at his childhood church because he produced a gay son.
The son, Jessie Goodman, says his dying father’s last wish is to have his funeral at Lee’s Chapel Baptist Church in Sweetwater, Tennessee, and he wants Jessie to sing the hymn “The Anchor Holds” at the service.
The church holds special meaning his dad because it was his family’s church growing up.
But when Jessie contacted the church to start making arrangements, Pastor Jay Scruggs told him absolutely positively not.
According to local media outlets, Scruggs denied Jessie’s father’s request because Jessie is engaged to another man.
Yes, you read that correctly. Scruggs won’t permit Jessie’s heterosexual father to have his funeral at his church because his son is gay.
“They’re punishing my dad for a lifestyle choice I’ve made,” Jessie tells WTVC. “It’s not me up there in a casket. It’s him.”
Scuggs reportedly told Jessie that “as long as I was going to take part in any way, [my father] could not have his service there.”
So technically, his father could have his funeral at the church, but Jessie couldn’t attend.
According to Jessie, his dying father, who is also a pastor, didn’t take the news well.
“He had a very hurt look on his face when we told him that,” he says.
Church member Daryl Morrow tells local media that he believes Jessie’s father should be allowed to have his funeral at the church and that Jessie should be able to attend; however, he thinks Jessie’s fiancee, Brandon, shouldn’t be allowed inside the venue.
When asked for comment, Scruggs told reporters he wouldn’t talk to them under after Jessie’s father is in his grave.
Jessie’s father is still alive, but the family says he only has “a few days left.”
BREAKING: It is official. @ricardorossello will resign effective August 2. Protesters light fireworks, erupt in euphoric cheer. Here is the moment they find out their cries, fraught as they are, have been heard. That Ricky has resigned. #rickyrenuncia#PuertoRicopic.twitter.com/y3FYBidOGa
DUN FADEAWAY. Faye Dunaway fired from Broadway’s Tea At Five for slapping crew member. ‘Even though that’s what supposedly got her fired for once and for all, it was allegedly just one layer of the demon cake that Faye force fed everyone with. Sources say that she regularly showed up very late to rehearsals for the play, demanded that nobody wear white in rehearsals because it distracted her, and left rambling, angry voicemails to the creative team in the middle of the night. During one photo shoot, a source says she fed her salad to the floor.’
LIFETIME APPOINTMENTS. Mitch McConnell moves to confirm 19 judges: “McConnell’s move means likely confirmation of 19 District Court judges; the GOP leader had focused on higher-level Circuit Court judges for the first 30 months of Donald Trump’s presidency, filling all but four vacancies on the appeals courts.”
FIRED. Turning Point USA staffer fired over fake presidential seal: “The individual responsible, a member of TPUSA’s AV team, was let go in the wake of the incident. According to a source familiar with the event, the incident was just a terrible Google search mistake. TPUSA had event branding on the screens, but during a run through ahead of Trump’s remarks a few hours before the event, the team was told they had to change the branding to a presidential seal, prompting a search for a high quality image.” BACKGROUND…
MEGAN RAPINOE. She’s got a book deal: “The untitled project, acquired by Penguin Press and expected to be out in fall 2020, will include anecdotes from Ms. Rapinoe’s life, said the Penguin Press president and editor in chief Ann Godoff, who made the deal, but its message will go beyond sports.”
MICHIGAN. Ann Arbor considers ban on gay conversion therapy. “City Attorney Stephen Postema gave an overview of a draft ordinance at a recent Human Rights Commission meeting, noting Huntington Woods recently became the first Michigan city to institute such a ban, making it a civil infraction.”
JOY RIDE OF THE DAY. Kid takes trip through TSA baggage area at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport.
BACHELOR IN PARADISE. “Queer queen” Demi Burnett gets backlash on social media after coming out. “This is the first season I WILL NOT watch BIP due to the same sex disgusting behavior on screen. I have nothing against their choice of lifestyle but I don’t like to have it shoved down my throat on TV . you ruined your show for me and 300 others.”
LYRIC VIDEO OF THE DAY. Tegan & Sara
LOVEBIRDS OF THE DAY. Bronze Avery & photographer, JUSSY.
Janelle Monae to show off her acting chops in the Amazon series ‘Homecoming’
Singer-actress and queer firebrand Janelle Monae has announced her next project: she will replace Oscar-winner Julia Roberts in Season 2 of the acclaimed Amazon series Homecoming.
Season 1 of the mystery-thriller series starred Roberts as a woman working for the Homecoming Center, a medical facility designed to help traumatized servicemen return to civilian life. Four years after leaving the facility, she realizes that her memories are somehow blocked, and her reasons for departing are not what they seemed.
Season 2 will follow a similar format with Monae’s character. She will play a woman who wakes up in a canoe with no memory of her past. The show will then focus on her unraveling the mystery.
The inking of the deal marks Monae’s first job as a television series regular. Along with earning wide praise for her music, Monae has appeared in films like Moonlight, Hidden Figures and in an episode of the series Black Mirror, and earned praise for her work as an actress.
Samantha Bee’s Rejected ‘CATS’ Audition Tape Was Purrfect: WATCH
Yes, Samantha Bee auditioned for the ‘CATS’ movie. But unlike fellow late night host James Corden, she wasn’t cast. Sam Bee laments the cat that could have been in a new clip from Full Frontal.
Said Bee: “There’s just a language of a cat that I understand, with my tool. What would I have brought to the role? Stupid question! Authenticity. I’ll pee in a box. I will barf on your wooden kitchen spoons. I’ll only seem to know my name 40 percent of the time. That is the Sam Bee promise.”
Earlier this week, the Mirror published an investigative report into what really caused the British boy band, who has sold an astounding 50 million records worldwide, to split up in 2016.
According to reporter Frances Kindon, there were several factors that led to the band’s demise, including gaysex rumors that the guys could never seem to shake.
Fans first began speculating that Styles and Tomlinson were an item, nicknaming them “Larry Stylinson,” in 2012. For whatever reason, Tomlinson always found the rumors especially bothersome.
After the band broke up, he told an interviewer the false reports “created this atmosphere … where everyone was looking into everything we did.” He went on to say that the intense scrutiny between him and Style “took away the vibe” they had and made “everything a little bit more unapproachable.”
But evidently, Tomlinson didn’t appreciate the Mirror’s speculations that that was the reason the band broke up, and he took to Twitter yesterday to say so.
“Biggest load of bullsh*t I’ve seen in a while,” he wrote. “Typical unprovoked venom from The Mirror. Couldn’t be further from the truth!”
Biggest load of bullshit I’ve seen in a while. Typical unprovoked venom from The Mirror. Couldn’t be further from the truth! pic.twitter.com/AJUVvm8LPx
One Direction announced they were going on an 18 month hiatus in January 2016. The band has yet to announce any plans of getting back together.
In February 2018, they officially folded their touring company, which, just a few years earlier, had produced the highest-grossing tour by a vocal group in history, and the 20th highest-grossing concert tour of all time, pulling in almost $300 million.
Attorney General Bill Barr Orders Reinstatement of Federal Death Penalty, Schedules 5 Executions
Attorney General William Barr ordered the federal death penalty to be reinstated after a 16-year suspension.
NBC News reports: “Barr also directed the Federal Bureau of Prisons to schedule the executions of five death-row inmates convicted of murder, the Justice Department said in a news release. The executions are slated to take place in December 2019 and January 2020.”
CNBC reports: ‘The last federal execution was carried out in 2003. There are 62 individuals on federal death row, according to a tracker maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center. The Supreme Court outlawed state and federal death penalty laws in the 1972 decision Furman v. Georgia. The decision invalidated the laws then on the books, but did not outlaw the death penalty under all circumstances, leading states and the federal government to draft new legislation. The federal death penalty was reinstated in 1988, and expanded by Congress in 1994. No federal executions took place, however, until 2001, according to to the Bureau of Prisons website.’
This morning, the Department of Justice announced they would resume capital punishment. Let me be clear: capital punishment is immoral and deeply flawed. Too many innocent people have been put to death. We need a national moratorium on the death penalty, not a resurrection.
