NEW YORK CITY - The trailblazer Argentine American trans advocate Cecilia Gentili died on Feb. 6 in New York at age 52. She was known for her fierce activism on transgender and sex worker rights, as well as her role in the TV drama show Pose.
Throughout her life, Gentili suffered from addiction and was even jailed at Rikers Island, one of the world's largest correctional institutions also known for its alleged abuse of prisoners. After being released, Gentili would go on become a transgender health program coordinator, a nonprofit policy director for an established gay men's health organization, GMHC, and a lobbyist for health equality and anti-discrimination legislation, among other advocacy work.
