Cecilia Gentili, a well-known public health activist, writer, and professional who fought for transgender rights and contributed to the New York decriminalization of sex work, passed away at the age of 52.
On Tuesday night, she posted the announcement of her passing on her Instagram.
The post stated that “our beloved Cecilia Gentili passed away this morning to continue watching over us in nature.” “Choose to treat one another with kindness and fierce love.”
LGBTQ+ organizations, public health professionals, protesters, and elected officials all paid website tributes in response to the news.
“Trans icon Cecilia Gentili has left a hero in New York’s LGBTQ+ community,” Gov. Kathy Hochul made a statement on X, previously known as Twitter. She “helped many people find love, happiness, and acceptance as an actor and unwavering activist in the trans rights movement.”
The New York City health department referred to Gentili as a “beloved partner, colleague, and friend” in its own social media post.
Gentili was also known in New York’s public health area for her efforts to lessen HIV transmission and increase access to services for transgender and sex workers.
After serving as director of policy at GMHC, a nonprofit organization committed to HIV treatment and advocacy, she founded the business Transgender Equity Consulting in 2019. She contributed to the creation of transgender health services at Apicha Community Health Center before joining GMHC. This center focuses on providing care for HIV patients as well as Asian American, Pacific Islander, and LGBTQ+ groups.
Gentili started expanding her artistic output in recent years. She recently debuted the one-woman, off-Broadway show “Red Ink” and won a Stonewall Book Award for her memoir “Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist” from 2022. Additionally, she appeared on the FX program “Pose,” which portrayed the 1980s ballroom scene in New York City.
Gentili supported a number of causes, including the successful reform of the “walking while trans ban,” an informal state loitering law. She was frequently seen on the front lines of demonstrations and was arrested in October at a protest in New York City calling for an end to hostilities in Gaza.
Gentili frequently used humor in her speeches as a public speaker, urging the audience to take more action to defend marginalized individuals.
At a 2019 Pride event in Central Park, she remarked to the crowd, “Your rainbow doesn’t do s—t if you’re not doing what you need to do for sex workers.”
After relocating to New York from Argentina to live more comfortably as a transgender woman, Gentili spoke candidly about her own experiences working in sex to support herself.
Patrick McGovern, CEO of the volunteer LGBTQ+ health care provider Callen-Lorde, said in a statement, “In doing so, she inspired many others and really paved the way for our communities— particularly sex workers and trans women of color—to access high-quality and judgment-free healthcare.”
Callen-Lorde gave Gentili a Community Health Award in 2019 in recognition of her leadership. Cecilia’s Operational Inclusion Network, or COIN, is a center for sex workers that she co-founded with the organization.
Gentili always made it clear that she opposed any police presence in the sex industry, which put her at odds with opponents of total decriminalization, even as she pushed for more services for sex workers.
Gentili told Gothamist in 2019 that there has been a long history of non-sex workers deciding what services to provide for sex workers, and that this is an excellent opportunity to create those services from what people in the community say they need.
Gentili claimed she was spending more time away from the city in an interview that was released in November. She claimed to be exploring her relationship with religion after buying a home in Upstate New York.
On Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., a memorial service for Gentili will be held at Judson Memorial Church in Greenwich Village.
