{"id":104969,"date":"2024-04-02T00:06:21","date_gmt":"2024-04-02T00:06:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/two-charged-in-transgender-activist-cecilia-gentilis-death\/"},"modified":"2024-04-02T00:06:21","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T00:06:21","slug":"two-charged-in-transgender-activist-cecilia-gentilis-death","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/two-charged-in-transgender-activist-cecilia-gentilis-death\/","title":{"rendered":"Two charged in transgender activist Cecilia Gentili’s death"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Stephanie Keith\/Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(NEW YORK) — Two people were charged Monday for allegedly distributing the heroin and fentanyl that caused the death of transgender activist Cecilia Gentili.<\/p>\n

Cecilia Gentili was 52 when she fatally overdosed on Feb. 6 in her New York City home due to effects of fentanyl-laced heroin, according to an autopsy and United States Attorney Breon Peace.<\/p>\n

The drugs were allegedly sold to Gentili on Feb. 5 by Antonio Venti and allegedly supplied by Michael Kuilan, who have both been charged.<\/p>\n

The Argentinian immigrant was a renowned activist, advocating for immigrants, the transgender community, sex worker rights and people living with HIV.<\/p>\n

Celebrities including Billy Porter and Indya Moore attended her funeral, and several prominent trans activists, including Ceyenne Doroshow, Liaam Winslet, and Gentili\u2019s partner, Peter Scotto, also spoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was an angel,\u201d said Scotto in a statement following her death. \u201cOur phone would ring all the time in the middle of the night and she\u2019d jump into action to help people in crisis. She\u2019d always be there and answer that call. But to me, she was my partner. We woke every day next to each other with so much laughter and love. I\u2019m going to take that with me forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her funeral was held at Manhattan’s St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral and sparked controversy among several local Catholic leaders, including the New York Archdiocese, which called the funeral \u201csacrilegious and deceptive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Cathedral only knew that family and friends were requesting a funeral Mass for a Catholic, and had no idea our welcome and prayer would be degraded in such a sacrilegious and deceptive way,\u201d said the Archdiocese.<\/p>\n

Gentili’s loved ones denounced the criticism, saying all are supposed to be welcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cCecilia\u2019s immaculate work and the way she touched so many hearts and lives made her worthy of sainthood. Cecilia deserved this historic honor of the monumental funeral service at St. Patrick\u2019s Cathedral, and to be cemented in history as a mother of multiple movements \u2013\u2013 of sex worker, immigration, trans, and affirming health care movements,\u201d said Oscar Diaz, the director of communications at Trans Equity Consulting, an organization that Gentili founded. \u201cHer wit, creativity, humor, and grace will be missed by the generations she mothered.”
\u00a0<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stephanie Keith\/Getty Images (NEW YORK) — Two people were charged Monday for allegedly distributing the heroin and fentanyl that caused the death of transgender activist Cecilia Gentili. Cecilia Gentili was 52 when she fatally overdosed on Feb. 6 in her New York City home due to effects of fentanyl-laced heroin,Read More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,31,2],"tags":[273,271,276,274,270,123,275,133,124,272,102,103],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104969"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104969"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104969\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}