Trailblazing trans advocate Cecilia Gentili dies at age 52

Transgender activist, actress, and author Cecilia Gentili — who appeared in the trans-led TV drama series Pose — has passed away from undisclosed causes at the age of 52. Her passing received tributes from her Pose co-stars, nightlife legend Amanda Lepore, GLAAD, and drag performer Chiquitita.

A tribute posted on Gentili’s Instagram page Tuesday afternoon said, “Our beloved Cecilia Gentili passed away this morning to continue watching over us in spirit. Please be gentle with each other and love one another with ferocity. We will be sharing more updates about services and what is to come in the following days. At this time, we’re asking for privacy, time, and space to grieve.”

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Born and raised in the Argentinian city of Gálvez, Santa Fe, she came out as gay at age 12. She became aware of her own trans identity when she first met an out trans person at college.

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“In a small town that is very binary and heteronormative, somebody that was assigned male at birth and not acting masculine enough was very different for them,” she told NBC News. “I was living in a society that really wasn’t ready for someone like me.”

She eventually moved to Brazil and decided to move to Miami, Florida, in 1999 when she was 26 years old. “It took me months to save up, and once I bought my ticket, I took a plane to the U.S. with only $35 in my pocket. The cab ride alone from the airport was $25,” she said.

During her next five years in Miami, she couldn’t find work due to being an undocumented immigrant. Though she moved to New York City in 2003, in both Miami and New York, she did sex work while struggling with addiction, undergoing multiple arrests, and facing the threat of deportation. Her experiences would form the cornerstone of her future activism.

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A post shared by Cecilia Gentili (@ceciliagentili72)

Cecilia Gentili worked hard as a fierce queer activist

In 2010, she began an internship with The LGBT Center’s NYC Anti-Violence Project, an organization that supports LGBTQ+ survivors of violence. She was granted political asylum in 2011, legally changing her name and entering an addiction recovery program shortly after.

From 2012 until 2016, she worked for the Apicha Community Health Center, managing a trans health clinic that she grew from four patients to over 500. From 2016 to 2019, she worked as the Director of Policy at the Gay Men’s Health Crisis, the world’s first organization dedicated to HIV/AIDS prevention.

While there, she fought hard for the passage of GENDA, the New York Gender Expression and Nondiscrimination Act, which bans discrimination based on gender expression and identity and became law in 2019. Gentili also created the TGNC Equity Coalition, which fights for equitable policies, and also won direct funding from the city for trans-led organizations.

She helped establish and lead the DecrimNY campaign, which worked to decriminalize sex work in New York City as well as repeal the city’s “walking while trans” law, which was used by police to harass and arrest trans women for the crime of “loitering for the purposes of prostitution.” She also served as one of the lead plaintiffs in a successful challenge against the administration of President Donald Trump and its attempt to roll back trans protections in the Affordable Care Act.

She helped lead the Lorena Borjas Trans Equity Fund NYC, which gave over $1.8 million to trans advocacy organizations. In 2019, she also founded Trans Equity Consulting. There, she and her all-transgender staff advised companies, nonprofits, and governments on equitable transgender inclusion, particularly for trans women of color, immigrants, sex workers, and incarcerated people.

In 2020, she also hosted the Fierce Futures fundraiser for organizations aiding Black trans people and, in 2021, co-founded Cecilia’s Occupational Inclusion Network at the Callen-Lorde Community Health Center. It was the first healthcare center dedicated to sex workers. In 2023, she helped found Transmissions Fest, New York City’s first all-trans music festival — its profits benefitted LGBTQ+ charities.

Gentili’s life experience also informed her artistry. In 2017, she performed her one-woman autobiographical show The Knife Cuts Both Ways. In 2018 and 2019, she appeared in Pose, playing the role of Ms. Orlando, a shady New York City pumper who offered back alley cosmetic procedures. In 2022, she released her debut memoir Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist and, in 2023, performed her autobiographical off-Broadway show Red Ink.

Tributes mark Cecilia Gentili’s enduring legacy

In 2021, Gentili told LGBTQ Nation that one of the most important ways to fight transphobia is visibility, and, as she put it, a need to continue to “integrate trans people into the public narrative.”

“I say this to trans people, trans women of color, and to trans women of color who are undocumented or sex workers or both, people like me: Do what you can to achieve whatever level of empowerment you can get, but also be safe,” Gentili once wrote. “I’ll probably never call myself radical, especially in two countries with such high rates of trans femicide and histories of coups. I’m okay with it. I never want to judge my work by how ‘radical’ I am. But I do judge it on what I’m doing for my people and for myself.”

Tributes for Gentili poured in following the announcement of her passing.

Dominique Jackson, a trans actress who also acted on Pose, posted a video clip of their scene together and wrote, “I am deeply saddened by your departure dear sister! Even in death you are force to be reckoned with, your legacy one of movement, love and compassion unapologetic and true. I thank you dearly for ALL the work you have done. You sacrificed you boldly telling your truth and living it and for that you have changed and influenced many lives and the world. I LOVE YOU FOREVER BEAUTIFUL STRONG SISTER! REST WELL!”

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A post shared by Dominique T.A.R Jackson (@dominiquet.a.r.jackson)

Chase Strangio, deputy director of Transgender Justice for the ACLU’s LGBT & HIV Project, wrote of Gentili, “15 years of deep trans love and storytelling. I am forever grateful. We grieved so many losses together. It feels impossible to grieve your loss. I will carry you always. I love you.”

In her tribute, out actor and singer Sara Ramirez wrote, “I’m so sorry for this deep deep loss/ I still can’t believe it. Thank you Cecilia for all of your love and energy and spirit. We love you so much and always will.”

GLAAD said it was “devastated” by her passing and noted that Gentili spoke alongside other trans journalists to oppose The New York Times’ “biased and inaccurate trans coverage.” The organization added, “Cecilia just celebrated her 52nd birthday, surrounded by friends, loved ones, and community.”

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Drag performer Chiquitita posted a video of her speaking to Gentili during a stage show. The drag queen wrote, “I will honor your name for the rest of my life. Thank you for everything. Thank you for being a mother to me.”

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A post shared by Chiquitita (@chiquitettas)