Gay man sues funeral home for refusing to bury his late husband
By Ross Semple
A Mississippi man is suing a local funeral home after they allegedly refused to cremate his late husband because he was gay.
Robert Huskey died last May at the age of 86. His death came after a period of illness so his family had already been in touch with the Picayune Funeral Home to arrange a cremation.
However, on the day of Huskey’s death, the funeral home refused to collect his body. Jack Zawadski, Robert’s husband and partner of 52 years, has filed a lawsuit alleging that Robert’s sexuality was the reason for their refusal.
Jack released the following statement: “I felt as if all the air had been knocked out of me. Bob was my life, and we had always felt so welcome in this community.
“And then, at a moment of such personal pain and loss, to have someone do what they did to me, to us, to Bob, I just couldn’t believe it. No one should be put through what we were put through.”
The lawsuit has been taken up by Lambda Legal, which specialises in fighting for LGBT+ rights. Beth Littrell, a lawyer at Lambda, revealed that they are suing Picayune Funeral Home and their parent company over a breached contract.
“[Robert’s nephew] made all necessary arrangements before Bob’s passing in order to shield his … uncle from additional suffering and to allow friends to gather to support Jack in his grief,” she explained.
“Instead, Bob’s peaceful passing was marred by turmoil, distress and indignity, adding immeasurable anguish to Jack and John’s loss. This should not have happened to them, and should not be allowed to happen again.”
The family eventually found another funeral home to take Huskey’s body to, 90 miles away from their home.
Rob Hill, director of the Human Rights Campaign in Mississippi, condemned the funeral home. He said “All Mississippians — regardless of who they are or whom they love — deserve to be treated with respect.
“We will continue to push for expanded, statewide protections for LGBTQ Mississippians so that this type of unconscionable discrimination will be prevented in the future.”
In a statement posted on their website, the funeral home denies the accusations. They said: “We cannot go into details due to pending litigation. They stated in news we refused a gay man service. This is absolutely false.
“We have served several gay families previously. We treat everyone the same.”
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