Mississippi funeral home sued for ‘refusing gay man’

A Mississippi mortuary is being sued for allegedly refusing to transport or cremate a man because of his sexuality.

The husband, and nephew, of the deceased have filed a lawsuit against the funeral home.

The Brewer Funeral Home is alledged to have not wanted to “deal with their kind” after finding out the deceased was gay.

John “Jack” Zawadski met Robert Huskey “Bob”, in 1965 and were together for more than 52 years.

In a press statement, Lambda Legal, a national organisation that fights for the civil rights of LGBT people, said that Zawadski and his nephew, John Gaspari, are seeking unspecified cash compensation from the Brewer Funeral Home for “breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation and the intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.”

However the funeral home strongly denies any allegations.

In an interview with Mississippi Today, Brewer Funeral Home co-owner and manager Henrietta Brewer said: ““We just didn’t do that,”

“We just keep saying, ‘Why us?’ We’re the ones that treat everyone good. We don’t even think that, so we’d never say it. And our employees don’t think that either.

“I feel sorry for (Huskey’s) husband. I know he’s hurting. But we didn’t even talk to him.”