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It's tough to deny someone communion at her own mother's funeral Mass. It's also tough to deny someone communion publicly, at the altar rail. Combine the two, and it certainly would be difficult.

But a passage in the body of this article clarifies the matter and puts a whole different light on it:

Fr. Guarnizo may have been forcibly denied the opportunity to expand on his conversation. A commenter on Deacon Greg Kandra’s blog, who claimed to have been “in a meeting with Fr Marcel and heard the whole story,” wrote: “The woman in question brought her lesbian partner into the vesting sacristy just before the funeral Mass and made sure to introduce her partner to Fr. Marcel, introducing her as her ‘lover’. He told her then that she should not present herself for Communion.” A commenter claimed Barbara’s partner “blocked his way out of the sacristy when he attempted to speak with her further.”

If this is true, then he was completely and entirely justified in denying this woman communion. He told her privately not to, before the Mass began. And the bishop should be ashamed of himself. Maybe he hadn't heard these further details, but in that case he should not have spoken out like that without first investigating what happened.