LGBTQ Protesters Set To Rally Outside George Pell’s Funeral

George Pell’s funeral won’t be a quiet affair, with protesters planning to rally and march to Sydney’s St Mary’s cathedral to denounce his decades-long opposition to LGBTQ+ rights and same-sex marriage.

The late cardinal died of cardiac arrest following a hip surgery on Tuesday 10^th January 2023, after having attended the funeral held for Pope Benedict XVI days earlier.

Pell’s funeral is slated for 2^nd February, where Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher is expected to lead a requiem mass at the cathedral. Pell will then be laid to rest in a private ceremony in the cathedral’s crypt.

However, a campaign group for LGBTQ+ rights is planning to protest and have organized a march on the day of the funeral. Community Action for Rainbow Rights (CARR) have dubbed their rally “Pell go to Hell,” with organisers expecting “hundreds of people.”

The group has stated that they saw Pell as a “key figure of right-wing conservatism,” who strongly opposed women’s rights and same-sex marriage. For many years, Pell campaigned against LGBTQI+ law reform and never shied away from making statements against the community.

In many derogatory statements, Pell called same-sex relationships as a greater health hazard than smoking. He also stated that abortion was a “worse moral scandal” than child abuse.

Rejecting The Former Cardinal

Co-convener for CARR, April Holcombe told the Guardian that protesters will be rallying in order to “reject George Pell and everything he stood for.”

“In terms of protesting him, importantly, what we see from politicians and the press is a chorus of mourning for this man,” Holcombe said, as reported by the Guardian.

“Tony Abbott called him a ‘saint for our times’, an inspiration for the ages. And John Howard said he should never have even been charged, let alone convicted.”

“When this is the response of official society and the political elite, it’s really important that progressive forces, forces for justice, make their voices heard.”

Social Media Voices Their Hate Of Pell

Others have taken to social media to voice their displeasure with Pell, with one stating on Reddit that they “hope someone plays highway to hell on loudspeaker.”

“Hell is too good of a place for the likes of him,” one user wrote.

Others have taken to placing colourful ribbons from the Pride flag on the fences around St Mary’s cathedral in order to mark Pell’s “true legacy.”

And it’s *on*. Get yourself to St Mary’s over the next few days, Sydney – we need lots of colour for Pell’s memorial service to mark his true legacy. Remember the victims, not the enabler. This on the Cook & Philip pool end, but there are fences on the College St side too. pic.twitter.com/q3cxVoPik5

— Pauline Pantsdown (@PPantsdown) January 16, 2023

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews declined to hold a state funeral for Pell, stating that he “couldn’t think of anything that would be more distressing for victims [and] survivors than that.”