Religious group calls mockery of faith at a transgender funeral in NYC a ‘hate crime’

A Catholic advocacy group called on New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York City District Attorney Alvin Bragg to investigate what the group sees as a “hate crime” committed by transgender activists who arranged a funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City last week and openly mocked the church and Catholicism.

Catholic Vote said the Feb. 15 funeral of Cecilia Gentili, a self-avowed atheist, former sex worker and transgender activist, was a violation of laws intended to protect religious rights.

Gentili, 52, died on Feb. 6. The cause of death has not been disclosed.

The funeral, attended by a crowd estimated at more than 1,000 people, featured demands for transgender rights and health care. Organizers said they did not tell authorities at St. Patrick’s — known among Catholics as “America’s Parish Church” — that Gentili was transgender, fearing officials would have refused the funeral rite.

Two days later, the Very Rev. Enrique Salvo, the cathedral’s pastor, issued a statement in which he noted public “outrage over the scandalous behavior at a funeral here” and said the cathedral  “had no idea our welcome and prayer would be degraded in such a sacrilegious and deceptive way.”

Father Salvo said a Mass of Reparation — performed to atone for offenses “committed against Our Lord” — was said at the cathedral on Saturday.

Catholic Vote maintains the transgender activists behind Gentili’s service violated New York’s Hate Crimes Act.

“If you look at the criminal trespass code, there is a clear provision in there for gaining access to a venue through deception or subterfuge, and this is precisely what they did,” Brian Burch, the organization’s president, said in a telephone interview.

“Cathedral officials have confirmed that they were misled, they were deceived. This is the precise definition of criminal trespass,” he said.

Mr. Burch cited a 1974 case, People v. Segal, in which gay rights activists were prosecuted for seeking to block a CBS News broadcast they believed to be unfair. 

“You had essentially a radical or an extreme trans activist who deceived church officials into holding a funeral service,” he said of the Gentili event. “And then gained access to the church and carried out a political stunt that mocked and denigrated the beliefs of those Catholics of the church.”

The Catholic Vote official said his call for an investigation would also reveal whether Ms. James and Mr. Bragg are impartial enforcers of the law.

The Washington Times contacted spokespersons for the Archdiocese of New York, state Attorney General James and District Attorney Bragg, but did not receive an immediate response.