First Annual Cecilia Gentili Day Celebrated Transgender Joy

January 31, 2025

New York City

On Friday, January 31 — what would have been Cecilia Gentili’s 53rd birthday — New York City Council LGBTQIA+ Caucus Chair Tiffany Cabán, Comptroller Brad Lander, and Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas gathered with community members and leaders, including G.L.I.T.S Inc Founder and Executive Director Ceyenne Doroshow, the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) TransJustice Campaign Manager LaLa B Zannell, Executive Director of the Stonewall Community Foundation Elisa Crespo, and more, to celebrate the first annual Cecilia Gentili Day. 

The conference recognized Cecilia’s significant contributions as an author, performer, policymaker, and activist, who fought for the rights of undocumented immigrants, sex workers, and LGBTQIA+ individuals.

After an official press conference at 1 Centre Street, the celebration continued at the historic La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in an afternoon of special words about Cecilia’s lasting impact on all our lives from New York City Council Member Tiffany Cabán and community leaders, with performances by some of Cecilia’s favorite artists. 

Cecilia Day was an unabashed celebration of transgender joy and LGBTQIA+ community resistance in the same month that a bigoted, hateful enemy of the transgender community took office as President of the United States. 

Cecilia Gentili Day is proof that New York City will not stand for Donald Trump’s hateful, anti-trans rhetoric and policy. Instead, we will continue to celebrate the joy and power of the LGBTQIA+ community. 

“I’ve been checking in with a lot of activists recently, and they’ve been telling me their hearts are heavy. And my heart may be heavy, but it’s also fortified and full. Because today we’ve carved out a day — a whole day, every single year — to celebrate a migrant trans sex worker,” said City Council Member Tiffany Cabán. “We’re marking the impact of all the communities Cecilia Gentili represented and fought for. In the era of Trump 2.0, when we say Cecilia presente, we mean trans folks presente. We mean migrants presente. We mean Black, Indigenous, people of color presente. Sex workers presente. In all their beauty, in all their brilliance. In all their humanity. In all of our humanity. Presente. And while Mayor Adams wants to roll over and sell out our migrants to Trump to get a pardon, we’re celebrating the communities he wants to sell out and saying: hell no. Rise in power, Cecilia. May your memory be a joyous, fearless revolution, and may Cecilia Gentili Day serve as a testament to that revolution.” 

“Cecilia was an incredible leader who uplifted her own experiences to advance the rights of trans and immigrant New Yorkers,” said Comptroller Brad Lander. “By proclaiming this Cecilia Gentili Day, we reaffirm New York City’s commitment to standing up for all New Yorkers.  As the Trump Administration begins attacking trans and immigrant rights, Cecilia’s legacy calls on us to fiercely protect and care for one another. In Cecilia’s honor, we won’t back down.”  

“As we celebrate the life and legacy of my big sister Cecilia in these times, it is so important to remember her life's work. She fought beside me for years to take action for sex workers rights, immigration rights, HIV and AIDs, harm reduction for substance abuse, and even a ceasefire. Unfortunately we live in a world where all of our lives will always be a resistance, and protest, and an act of revolution. We have always existed and will continue to never forget her legacy of that. To honor Cecila is to always uplift and defend all those things. So you are on the front lines,” said the American Civil Liberties Union’s (ACLU) TransJustice Campaign Manager LaLa B Zannell. 

“Cecilia was a beautiful soul and fierce champion for LGBTQ+ folks, immigrants, low-income New Yorkers, and so many others. She fought discrimination, exploitation, and substance use to become a powerhouse of New York policy and community building. Her contributions will be felt for generations. In these dark political times Cecilia's triumphs are a testament to the power of investing in people, and her advocacy is the blueprint for how to empower our neighbors,” said Jared Trujillo, Associate Professor of Law at CUNY School of Law. 

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