A grieving husband claims he was turned away from multiple venues while trying to find a place to hold a funeral for his deceased partner, but his story seems to be marred with inconsistencies.
32-year-old James Stone committed suicide on January 19. Initial reports claimed Stone had died of Sjogren’s syndrome, a genetic autoimmune disorder, but Stone’s husband, Jay Hoskins, later said those reports were false.
“James did not die of Sjogren’s Syndrome,” he wrote on the comment board of the Dallas Voice. “He died a tragic death of suicide where his poor mother and myself found him hanging from a ceiling fan. I tried unsuccessfully to revive him, but it was too late.”
Stone lived with Hoskins in Conroe, Texas but he was originally from the town of Clarkridge, Arkansas. Hoskins said he wanted to hold a memorial service for his husband in Mountain Home, the town closest to where Stone grew up, but all of the town’s churches turned him away. He also claims that even the local fire house, which was built by Stone’s own father, refused to host the memorial.
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“I have never experienced such hate and bigotry in my life,” he wrote on the comment board.
But not everyone says this is true.
Two churches in Clarkridge told The Baxter Bulletin that they were never contacted, and Stone’s own family members said were going to use the fire house but ended up canceling the reservation.
Though Hoskins’ story hasn’t been completely discredited. The Baxter Bulletin was able to confirm that members from at least one local church did go of their way to voice their disapproval of gay people.
Jerry and Vicki Oels of the Clarkridge Church of Christ showed up to Stone’s graveside service armed with envelopes stuffed with Bible verses condemning homosexuality which they presented to Stone’s mother, husband, and the pastor leading the service.
“To the people of Clarkridge,” Hoskins wrote on the comment board, “you all will be judged just as everyone else.”
“I lost the love of my life,” he wrote in a separate comment, “and still don’t know how I am going to carry on, but will have to adapt.”
h/t: Raw Story
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Will L
If you live in Texas, why would you have a memorial service in his hometown where you don’t live and aren’t a member of a church? His friends would be in Texas. (Remember, a memorial service is without the body.) Even without all the holes in the story, I smell a drama queen.
transiteer
Christianity at work. No Charity with this fake religion – just a home for hate filled Losers and Bigots. Christian Charity is as big a myth as the religion itself. I’m sorry you got to see it first-hand in a time of bereavement, but you may have been a bit optimistic at what you’d find in a. Texas, and b. in the Christian Church.
Harley
Once again proving how religious people are the scum of the earth. To all you religulous out there, you own this. You can say that they don’t represent true Christianity but by staying silent and allowing this to happen you are no better that the German people who allowed the nazi party to take hold of government and then destroy the very nation they worked so hard to build.
onthemark
Suicide, by itself, used to be a “sin” that would automatically get you barred from Christian burial. Suicides didn’t even get a headstone, they were supposed to be buried under a crossroads or something & forgotten (see Willa Cather in either “O Pioneers” or “My Antonia,” I forget which, where a character is offended at this tradition & cleverly gets around it).
It’s strange that the husband seems to be playing the “suicide card” to get sympathy – probably not a good move – and seems genuinely unaware of the equal-opportunity Christian history of hating all sorts of people besides gays!
1EqualityUSA
When all is known and we are out of our flesh, I’d rather have been the one receiving the envelope, stuffed with disdain, than the one giving it. Sorry for your loss.
Clark35
@Harley: *Yawn* More professional victim posts, and holocaust references from an angry person.
@Will L: Indeed there are lots of holes in this story, and the guy doing it is a drama queen or media whore. I feel bad that his partner killed himself but you’re right the story doesn’t sound true or add up at all.