Cecilia Gentili, a prominent public health advocate, author and actor who fought for trans rights and helped launch the movement to decriminalize sex work in New York, has died at 52.
News of her death was posted on her Instagram on Tuesday evening.
“Our beloved Cecilia Gentili passed away this morning to continue watching over us in spirit,” the post read. “Please be gentle with each other and love one another with ferocity.”
The news prompted online tributes from LGBTQ+ groups, public health workers, activists and elected officials.
“New York’s LGBTQ+ community has lost a champion in trans icon Cecilia Gentili,” Gov. Kathy Hochul stated on X, formerly known as Twitter. “As an artist and steadfast activist in the trans rights movement, she helped countless people find love, joy and acceptance.”
In its own social media post, the New York City health department called Gentili a “beloved collaborator, partner and friend.”
Gentili was well known in New York’s public health community for working to improve access to services for trans people and sex workers and reduce the spread of HIV.
She founded the company Transgender Equity Consulting in 2019, after serving as director of policy at GMHC, a nonprofit dedicated to HIV care and advocacy. Before joining GMHC, she helped develop transgender health services at Apicha Community Health Center, which focuses on care for Asian American, Pacific Islander and LGBTQ+ populations as well as people living with HIV.
Gentili began expanding her work in the arts in recent years. She won a Stonewall Book Award for her 2022 memoir “Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist,” and recently launched the one-woman, off-Broadway show “Red Ink.” She also made cameos on the FX show “Pose,” which chronicled New York City’s 1980s ballroom scene.
Gentili advocated for a range of causes, including the successful effort to repeal a state loitering law known informally as the “walking while trans…
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