John McCusker died on Sunday of heart failure. He owned Club Montage and Rebar (both night spots popular with gays). Because of his ownership of these clubs, he has been denied funeral rites by San Diego’s Roman Catholic Bishop Robert Brom. Bishop Robert Brom decided none of the Catholic churches in San Diego or Imperial counties could provide funeral rites for him. Chancellor Rodrigo Valdivia said the Church’s decision was based on his invovlement in the business of adult entertainment and not on his sexual orientation. A memorial service for John was held at an Episcopal church.

I can’t seem to find any information on John’s involvement with “adult entertainment.” I know he owned two bars, but that’s all I can find. Are gay bars considered adult entertainment? Are all bars? If bars are adult entertainment, Bishop Robert Brom is going to be denying funeral rites to a lot of people.

Lets assume for a second that he was involved in actual adult entertainment because he may have been; I have no way of knowing for sure. Are those who work in adult entertainment (porn stars, porn directors, strippers, etc.) normally denied funeral rites by the Catholic church? I don’t think so. I’m not buying any of this.

On a more personal note, I told my parents about this story and they said “egh.” That about sums up the opinion of my Catholic family. Family is great. You can always count on them to be on your side.

This is my last post on death for the day (and hopefully longer). I promise.