A funeral service was held at St Patrick's Cathedral in New York on Thursday for a male homosexual activist and prostitute known as "Cecilia" Gentili, 52.
The AIDS activist's cause of death was not announced. Born in Argentina, Gentili was subjected to homosexual abuse by a neighbour throughout his childhood, starting at the age of six.
By the age of 12, he considered himself a "homosexual". He later began dressing as a woman and changed his name.
In search of a better life, Gentili became an illegal immigrant in the US in 2003 and earned money as a prostitute. Six years later he was arrested for drug possession.
The anti-Catholic NyTimes.com calls the funeral an event probably without precedent in Catholic history, because the unrepentant homosexual activist also denied the existence of God.
The funeral was a celebration of Gentili's vice and "an exuberant piece of political theatre".
Over 1,000 participants, several hundred of them transvestites, arrived in unashamed outfits - glittering miniskirts and halter tops, fishnet stockings, sumptuous fur stoles and at least one boa sewn from $100 notes.
Mass cards and a picture near the altar showed a haloed Gentili surrounded by the Spanish words for 'transvestite', 'whore', 'blessed' and 'mother' above the text of Psalm 25.