REMARKS
Council Member Tiffany Cabán urges support for resolution honoring Cecilia Gentili
0:47:11
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79 sec
Council Member Tiffany Cabán delivers heartfelt remarks urging her colleagues to support a resolution honoring the late Cecilia Gentili, a trans icon and advocate for sex workers' rights. Cabán describes Gentili's impact on her personally and on the broader community, highlighting her achievements and character.
- Cabán emphasizes Gentili's role as a fearless leader, author, actress, and advocate for trans healthcare access
- She shares personal reflections on Gentili's influence in her life and the lives of others
- Cabán calls for the passage of a resolution to establish "Cecilia Gentili Day" in New York City
Tiffany Cabán
0:47:11
Thank you.
0:47:14
Today, I am urging my colleagues, to support the passage of a resolution that honors the late great Cecilia Gentile.
0:47:22
Cecilia was a fearless leader, a trans icon, an author, an actress, a pioneering advocate for the dignity and freedom of sex workers.
0:47:29
She expanded access to health care for so many trans New Yorkers, and is known for so much more.
0:47:35
She wasn't merely an ally in other liberation fights.
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She was a coconspirator who put her body on the line for anyone facing exploitation, discrimination, or persecution.
0:47:45
Cecilia was a very formative figure in my life, a super special, impactful person.
0:47:49
She held such an an important role in the social spaces and community I moved through.
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And since she's passed away, I've met lots of new people and have discovered that she held the same kind of space and presence in their lives and community, and it's pretty amazing.
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And even though Cecilia is no longer with us, her impact lives on and is magnified by every person who knew her.
0:48:06
Her energy was infectious.
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She was profoundly funny and sharp, brilliant, open and honest about her struggles with substance use, and she said exactly what needed to be said every time.
0:48:15
I really, really miss her.
0:48:17
And to close, may your memory be a joyous, hilarious, visionary, fearless revolution, and may our city's new Cecilia Gentile Day, should it pass, serve as a testament to that revolution?
0:48:27
So I just ask my colleagues to support it as well.
0:48:29
Thank you.