Drag Queens Desecrate Church—Who Let Them?

A funeral for a transgender-identifying man has been in the news recently, because the indecent event was held in a Catholic Church. The deceased male was well-known transgender activist, Cecilia Gentili, a self-professed atheist. He had never been Catholic.

The funeral was attended by around 1,000 people, and as could have been predicted, it was more of a pride parade than anything solemn or holy. The deceased man’s picture was shown near the altar, with a halo around him, surrounded by the Spanish words for “transvestite,” “whore,” “blessed” and “mother” above the text of Psalm 25. He had worked as a prostitute and had fought for the decriminalization and legalization of prostitution.

From the lectern, in that holy place, LGBT activists decided to mock St. Cecilia by announcing, "This whore. This great whore. St. Cecilia, Mother of all Whores!" The actual Saint Cecilia was a virgin and martyr, remembered as the patron saint of musicians and singers. This transgender-identifying male with homosexual attractions had used the name Cecilia during his efforts to make a mockery of womanhood by pretending to be a woman.

He was vocal about a history of sexual abuse as a child, beginning at the age of six. He would announce that he was homosexual at the young age of 12, in another demonstrable case of how such abuse and trauma can cause warped sexuality. It’s one of many truths that aren’t allowed to be spoken in modern society.

As one looks at pictures of him, it’s hard not to notice the receding hairline that is indicative of male pattern baldness, and the facial distortions that come from a series of plastic surgeries. However, we’re asked to pretend that these people, who live between states of self-denial, self-mutilation, and self-abasement, are happy. Even as all of the evidence stands in testament of the reverse, we are told that any misery on the part of such people is caused by those who aren’t cheering loudly enough.

We must then ask why the funeral was allowed to happen at all. Frankly, in every meaningful sense, this wasn’t a funeral. The people weren’t there to pray for his soul, or to commend him to God’s mercy. They were there to cheer for sin and degeneracy. They would have been just as well-served having a party at a gay bar.

Ceyenne Doroshow, who organized the funeral, told the New York Times that she had not mentioned that Gentili was transgender when planning with the church, admitting “I kind of kept it under wraps.” So, this was an intentional desecration of a holy place and a mockery of the Faith. It has been reported that they wanted to have the funeral held in St. Patrick’s Cathedral because it is, “an icon, like her”.

Despite the fact that the true nature of the “funeral” was kept from the church, they had every right to end the farce as soon as words like “whore” were placed near the altar. It should have been immediately clear that what was about to happen was egregious, indecent, and unworthy of the holy site. Rob Drear has noted previously that Cardinal Dolan didn’t shut down a “pre-pride Mass” (yes, a Mass before a Pride Parade), has stated that the Catholic Church needs to be more “welcoming” towards LGBT groups, and has been suppressive of the Traditional Latin Mass, so one could argue that this was merely a step in the direction that the New York Archdiocese is heading.

Activists who attended the funeral engaged in eulogies and pontification about how the decedent was “to continue watching over us in spirit” — as if the only requirement to get into Heaven is dying. Of course, that assertion could only be true if God was unjust. From the lectern, they celebrated Gentili’s efforts to promote prostitution and pornography, lauding his cause “that sex workers are free.” After a Cathedral cantor sang the Ave Maria, as is common at Catholic funerals, one person rose from a pew to suggestively dance before the casket and then down the aisle, waving red scarves while the other attendees applauded. It was an appalling display.

The Archdiocese’s attempts to be “welcoming” and not to check on the backgrounds of those who are being buried were abused in what was ultimately an act of anti-Catholic bigotry. A Mass of reparation has since been offered at the cathedral, at the direction of Cardinal Dolan.

In the late 1980s, this gothic cathedral was the site of large protests by proud homosexuals, because then-Archbishop John O’Connor had stated that AIDS was spread through “sexual aberrations or drug abuse.” He advocated for abstinence and morality over drugs and contraceptives. Of course, he wasn’t wrong. He told people the truths that they have a right to hear. Such spiritual works of mercy have become too rare in our own time.

As anti-Catholic and anti-Christian efforts increase, churches need to know where they stand and how to respond to such events, so that they are not mere victims or even accidental participants in acts of scandal and desecration.