Johnathan Walker:Tributes pour in as trans advocate Cecilia Gentili dies at 52, a week after her birthday

A New York City woman who spent her life dedicated to the liberation of marginalized people died Tuesday,Johnathan Walker a week after turning 52. 

The family and friends of “beloved” Argentinian advocate Cecilia Gentili confirmed the news on Instagram, saying that she would “continue watching over us in spirit.” The cause of Gentili's death was not immediately clear.

“Please be gentle with each other and love one another with ferocity,” the caption reads. 

Tributes poured in for Gentili, who made a career out of “uplifting trans people, sex workers, immigrants, and those pushed to the margins,” reads a statement from Trans Equity Consulting, an organization Gentili founded in 2019.  

She has worked at a number of local non-profit organizations in various capacities over the years, including The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center, Apicha Community Health Center, Gay Men’s Health Center which is now known as GMHC and most recently Trans Equity Consulting. 

The “blazing legacy" of love and kinship she left behind will continue on through the number of projects she spearheaded like TRANSMISSIONS, the first all-trans music festival in New York City; Cecilia's Occupational Inclusion Network (COIN) Clinic, which provides free healthcare to New York sex workers; or Stop Violence in The Sex Trades Act (SVSTA) in New York, a piece of legislation she publicly backed. 

“Cecilia, a fervent believer in action and impact over thoughts and prayers, prompts us all to carry her life's work forward in providing material support to marginalized communities and fighting for a more just world,” the statement reads. 

Learn more about Cecilia Gentili, trans author, advocate and performer.

Who was Cecilia Gentili?

She is best known for her portrayal of Ms. Orlando on “Pose,” a 2018 FX drama series set in the late 1980s “spotlighting the legends, icons and ferocious house mothers of New York’s underground ball culture.”

Gentili was also a creative force, sharing snippets of her life in the one-woman show “The Knife Cuts Both Ways,” a memoir “Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist” and in autobiographical off-Broadway show “Red Ink.” 

“I wanted them to laugh, but also to wonder why we have to make trans people’s lives so hard,” Gentili told Them, a LGBTQ+ publication owned by Condé Nast, in reference to "Red Ink" last year. 

Gentili made New York City her home, leaving her native Argentina in search of place she could lead “a safer life as a transgender woman,” according to Trans Equity Consulting’s online biography.

She lived in the U.S. for over a decade as an undocumented person, earning a living through sex work. 

Gentili spent her life working to “ensure that all people living on the margins are provided with access to the dignity and respect deserved in all spaces” as she overcame drug addiction, contending with arrests − including for prostitution − and receiving asylum. 

She served the community in more ways than one, raising over $15 million in funding for the trans community, advocating for trans healthcare in court, organizing fundraisers, hosting events and serving as a board member for  Queer Art, Stonewall Foundation, and Alianza Trans Latinx, according to Oscar Diaz, media strategist for Trans Equity Consulting.

Gentili’s memoir, “Falta’s,” won the American Library Association’s Israel Fishman Nonfiction Award in 2023. The book is set to be translated and published in Spanish later this year. Her off-Broadway debut “Red Ink” was picked up by Killer Films and set to be produced this year, Diaz shared. 

How has the community reacted to news of her passing?

Many people, including long-time admirers, loved ones and even celebrities flooded to the comment section to express gratitude for everything Gentili had done for the community. 

“This is penetrating so deep. Talk about the definition of Motha!!!! Rest in power you sweet sweet Angel!!!! Thank you for constantly holding us, loving us, protecting us!! You have done and surpassed your mission. We are forever grateful,” fellow advocate and creative Jari Jones said. 

New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat, acknowledged that the community would never be the same without her. 

“Thank you for giving us so much, relentlessly, every single day. You transformed so many lives and shined a light across Jackson Heights, Corona, and beyond. Que en paz descanse,” she wrote in the comments. 

Drag performer and actress Chiquitita said Wednesday that she would continue to honor Cecilia’s name for the rest of her life. 

“Thank you for everything. thank you for being a mother to me.”