Knoxville widow says funeral home rejected her over same sex marriage

File: UlliSczesni.png (388KB, 466x441px) Image search: [Google]

388KB, 466x441px

http://wate.com/2017/08/01/knoxville-widow-says-funeral-home-rejected-her-over-same-sex-marriage/

KNOXVILLE (WATE) – A Knoxville woman claims a funeral home refused to serve her over gay marriage. It happened less than 24 hours after Ulli Sczesni lost her wife Luanne to a stroke.

“I’m hurt. I’m terribly hurt,” Sczesni said. “We were just so connected. She was my soul mate. The term wife was not good enough. You just lose somebody… it hurts. You miss that person and then you’re penalized for it.”

Her wife’s body was transported to Berry Funeral Home in South Knoxville, only to be relocated to Maryville. Sczesni claims a Berry Funeral Home employee told her gay marriage was illegal and he would not provide her with funeral services.

“He said, ‘I need to speak to her next of kin, ‘and I said that’s me. I’m her spouse,” she said. “And he said, ‘You’re a woman.’ And I said, ‘Yes I am, but we are legally married.’ And he said, ‘Well I’m very sorry for your loss but that is not legal in Tennessee.’”

The funeral home is calling the situation a misunderstanding, even apologizing to Sczesni for the incident.

“We are dedicated to treating our client families with dignity and respect,” Fred Berry, president of Berry Funeral Home, said in a statement. “As part of our service, it is our responsibility to verify the rights of the individual seeking to make disposition decisions for a decedent. We did not refuse service to the family and they ultimately chose a different provider. We respect their decision and sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding.”