Gay policewoman's mother, extended family ousted from Tennessee church

COLLEGEDALE, Tennessee ? Collegedale, Tenn., recently became the first city in the state to offer benefits to same-sex spouses of its government employees.

That victory for Kat Cooper, a city detective who is gay, has prompted a church in the Chattanooga suburb to drop Cooper's mother and other family members from its roll books, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Cooper's mother, Linda, stood by her daughter as she fought for months to be provided benefits for her wife, Krista. Her presence alongside her daughter over the summer apparently prompted officials at Ridgedale Church of Christ to give the family an ultimatum: either publicly apologize for their support of Kat Cooper or leave the church.

The family chose to leave.

Linda Cooper's family had been members of the church for more than 60 years, the Times Free Press reports.

"My mother was up here and she sat beside me. That's it," Kat Cooper told the newspaper. "Literally, they're exiling members for unconditionally loving their children -- and even extended family members."

Ken Willis, minister at Ridgedale Church of Christ, said the family's support of Cooper was basically an endorsement of homosexuality.

"The sin would be endorsing that lifestyle," Willis said. "The Bible speaks very plainly about that."

He told the Times Free Press that he did not expect the family to disown Kat Cooper.

"But you certainly can't condone that lifestyle, whether it's any kind of sin -- whether they're shacked up with someone or living in a state of fornication or they're guilty of crimes," Willis said. "You don't condone it. You still love them as a parent."

Click here to read the entire story from the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Source: http://blog.al.com/wire/2013/08/gay_policewomans_mother_ousted.html

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