The
Argentine actress and trans activist Cecilia Gentili
died in New York at the age of 52.
She was a renowned defender of the rights of the trans community and sex workers in that city in the United States.
He was also part of
Pose
, the FX series broadcast by Netflix that caused a sensation.
His close ones confirmed the sad news through a post on his personal Instagram account.
"Our beloved Cecilia Gentili died this morning and her spirit will continue to watch over us. Be kind to each other and love each other fiercely," they said in that publication.
"At this time, we ask for privacy, time and space to grieve," they added.
Latina activist in New York
Almost 30 years ago, Gentili
had settled in New York,
where she became a renowned defender of trans rights.
She also worked on HIV prevention campaigns.
"She was very recognized as a Latina activist in the United States, she had a very strong commitment to this cause and she was very close to the girls from the group Transgrediendo, from Queens," said the president of the Archive of Trans Memory of Argentina, María Belén Belt
"But he is also well remembered for his character Mrs. Orlando from the FX television series
Pose
, where he was going to be only in the first season but he stood out so much that he ended up being in all three seasons," he added about his participation. in this strip focused on the African-American and Latino LGBTIQ+ cultural scene in New York City in the '80s and '90s.
That series was created by Ryan Muprhy, producer of
American Horror Stories
and
Glee
, among other hits.
Cecilia Gentili, actress and trans activist, died at 52.
Instagram Photo
A girl from Rosario
Born in the Santa Fe city of Gálvez,
at age 26 she migrated to the United States
, where she co-founded the organization DecrimNY that managed to decriminalize sex work and repeal a law that criminalized vagrancy for the purposes of prostitution that critics had long denounced as a tool to attack transgender people solely based on their appearance.
Likewise,
he held prominent positions in non-profit organizations
such as LGBTQ GMHC and APICHA, which worked on HIV/AIDS prevention.
She also co-founded a free clinic for sex workers and founded Trans Equity Consulting in 2019.
"She, a girl from Rosario who dabbled in theater, in the Rosario underground for a long time. In 1999 or 2000 she went to the United States and began to make a life there, but over time she also began to do activism. In 2018 wins the casting to play a quite emblematic character from the series
Pose
, where she represented a (trans) Latina living in the United States who placed silicone of dubious origin," Correa said.
Messages from organizations defending the rights of the LGBTQ+ community multiplied due to the death of this "icon of the trans movement", as the
governor of the state of New York, Kathy Hochul
, defined it on her X account.
"As an artist and strong activist in the trans rights movement, she helped countless people find love, joy, and acceptance," Hochul wrote.
The New York Department of Health also highlighted that the activist was a "strong defender of trans and queer communities and all marginalized people."
In recent years, Gentili had expanded his work into the arts, according to Gothamist, which notes that his 2022 memoir, Faltas:
Letters to Everyone
in My Hometown Who Isn't My Rapist
those from my hometown who are not my rapists"), won the Stonewall Book Award.
He had recently premiered the solo show Red
Ink
in a theater on what is known as the Broadway suburbs, the center of Manhattan's theatrical and musical activity.
"His death was unexpected, January 31 had been his birthday, which he celebrated with a party with many guests. Now we see it as a kind of farewell," Correa concluded.
With information from Télam