New York Archdiocese denounces behavior at transgender activist’s funeral at cathedral

The funeral of a renowned transgender activist in a New York cathedral elicited a denunciation by a senior church official, who called the Mass a scandal within one of the preeminent houses of worship in U.S. Catholicism.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York condemned the funeral of Cecilia Gentili, which was held in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan last week.

Gentili was known as a leading advocate for other transgender people, as well as sex workers and people with HIV. A post on her Instagram account announced her death on Feb. 6 at age 52.

In a written statement, the Rev. Enrique Salvo, pastor of St. Patrick’s, thanked those who “share our outrage over the scandalous behavior” at the Thursday funeral.

“The Cathedral only knew that family and friends were requesting a funeral Mass for a Catholic, and had no idea our welcome and prayer would be degraded in such a sacrilegious and deceptive way,” Salvo said in the Saturday statement.

Videos of Gentili’s funeral show an estimated audience of more than 1,000 celebrants, including transgender people and other friends and supporters, chanting her name, applauding, singing and offering praise of her stature as a leading light of the city’s LGBTQ+ community.

During one eulogy that was widely circulated on social media, Gentili was celebrated as “St. Cecilia, the mother of all whores.”

In a statement, Gentili’s family denied that the church had been deceived and said the gathering “brought precious life and radical joy to the Cathedral in historic defiance of the Church’s hypocrisy and anti-trans hatred.”

“The only deception present at St. Patrick’s Cathedral is that it claims to be a welcoming place for all,” the family said.

A former sex worker who suffered addiction and was jailed at Rikers Island, Gentili became a transgender health program coordinator, a nonprofit policy director for the established gay men’s health organization GMHC and a lobbyist for health equality and anti-discrimination legislation, among other advocacy work.

Gentili founded the COIN Clinic, short for Cecilia’s Occupational Inclusion Network, a free health program for sex workers through the Callen-Lorde community health organization in New York.

“New York’s LGBTQ+ community has lost a champion in trans icon Cecilia Gentili,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul posted on X, formerly Twitter, following Gentili’s death.

Gentili acted in the FX television series “Pose,” about the underground ballroom dance scene in the 1980s and 1990s. She also performed two one-woman stage shows. “I am an atheist, but I am always asking God for things,” Gentili said in “Red Ink,” her autobiographical show touching on topics including her childhood in Argentina.

Conservative group CatholicVote condemned fellow “Pose” actor Billy Porter, whose singing performance during the funeral was characterized by the group as a mockery of the “Our Father” prayer.

In a statement before the song, Porter called Gentili a leader among “an entire community of people who transformed my life forever.”

“Grief is singular, it’s individual. Please know that however you grieve is what’s right,” Porter said. “There’s no right or wrong way to grieve. But just make sure that you do, you allow yourself to do that, so that we can get to the other side of something that feels a little bit like grace.”