Transgender icon, artist, and activist Cecilia Gentili has died, according to a post on her Instagram account. Ms. Gentili was 52.

Born in Argentina before the Perón dictatorship descended for the second time, the politics of her home country colored much of Ms. Gentili's life, and her legacy as an activist. First coming out in 1984, Ms. Gentili received asylum in the United States in 2012, where she fought for the rights of undocumented immigrants, sex workers, and LGBTQIA+ people.

Ms. Gentili had experienced an artistic renaissance in recent years, releasing her vivid memoir Faltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn’t My Rapist in 2022, and producing a new solo show, Red Ink, in 2023. Ms. Gentili was scheduled to reprise Red Ink at Joe's Pub this coming April. 

Ms. Gentili was the Director of Policy at the GMHC (formerly Gay Men’s Health Crisis), and the founder of Trans Equity Consulting, which supports equitable representation of trans women of color, immigrants, sex workers, and incarcerated people.

In addition to Red Ink and her prior solo show, The Knife Cuts Both Ways, Ms. Gentili appeared as Ms. Orlando on Pose, the backroom body modifier who provided discounted silicone injections to trans women. 

Just last year, Ms. Gentili co-organized Transmissions Fest, the first all-trans music festival in New York City, with proceeds benefiting LGBTQIA+ charities.