Anger at family who dressed their transgender daughter Jennifer Gable as a man in open casket

• After her sudden death, Idaho transgender woman was buried by her family as a man called Geoff
• Friends of Jennifer Gable were angry to see her in a suit and with short hair at her funeral

By James Gordon for Mail online

Published: 12:08 EST, 23 November 2014 | Updated: 17:39 EST, 23 November 2014

Friends of a transgender woman from Idaho who died suddenly have reacted with shock after her family dressed her for an open casket funeral as a man.

32-year-old Jennifer Gable died suddenly of an aneurysm last month.

Her friends who attended the service were disgusted to find that she had been prepared like a man with her long hair cut off and dressed in a suit.

Activists say the incident shows the importance of having a will which explicitly states provisions.

Switched at death: Jennifer Gable, an Idaho customer service coordinator for Wells Fargo, died suddenly in October, aged 32. Her friends were stunned when her family buried her as a man, known as Geoff

Back to his roots: Gable was transgender, born Geoffrey, but living the past few years as Jennifer

Meghan Stabler of the Human Rights Campaign had previously helped Ms Gable as she was undergoing her change.

'There was no mention of the woman she knew she was and had lived as for several years. Just erosion of her identity and an old photograph of how the father perceived her to be.

'She had done what she needed to do legally to be seen as her authentic self. Her father erased her identity either though ignorance or arrogance.'

'I am disgusted,' Stacy Dee Hudson posted on Facebook.

Uneasy: At the funeral in Twin Falls, Idaho her friends were shocked to see her in an open casket with short hair and dressed in a suit

'A great and dear friend's mom went to the funeral today. It was not closed casket. They cut her hair, suit on.

'How can they bury her as Geoff when she legally changed her name? So very sad.

'Jen you will be missed and people who know you know that you are at peace.'

Adding to the insult, her obituary also makes no mention of the fact she had been living as a woman for several years.

The obituary used the name Geoffrey and the gender specific 'he' and 'his,' and there was no mention of Jennifer.

Erased from existence: Gable's friends said that 'her father erased her identity either through ignorance or arrogance,' adding that no mention of her transition was made in her official paid obituary either

Caught: Though funeral directors at the Magic Valley Funeral Home and Crematory in Twin Falls were aware that Jennifer was living as female, they powerless to present her as such against her father's wishes

'Geoffrey Charles Gable, 32, Boise, passed away suddenly on October 9, 2014 while at his job at Wells Fargo Bank.

'He was married to Ann Arthurs in 2005 in Hawaii. They were later divorced.

On her online obituary guestbook, Lisa Becker wrote, 'She was mutilated and disrespected by her family, and even her obituary is a desperate attempt to make her seem as masculine as possible. To her family — shame on you.'

Turmoil after death: Activists say the incident shows the importance of having a will which explicitly states provisions

I hope you know what you've done, and I hope you know how many people have now been given the opportunity to educate themselves on transgender rights and ending transphobia.

I'm so saddened that it had to happen this way, but I pray that her family someday understands the terrible thing they've done, and that they understand that everyone has the inherent human right to be exactly who they are.'

Though funeral directors at the Magic Valley Funeral Home and Crematory in Twin Falls were aware that Jennifer was living as female, they powerless to present her as such against her father's wishes

Mike Parke from the home said Gable's death certificate listed her as male.

'The death certificate says Geoffrey AKA Jennifer Gable,' Mr Parke said. 'The last few years she lived as Jennifer. They buried him as Geoff. A tormented situation for all those involved.'