What you should know
- Two men in Brooklyn face charges in connection with the death of a prominent transgender activist and actress in New York City, prosecutors announced.
- Michael Kuilan, 44, and Antonio Venti, 52, were accused of supplying the fentanyl-laced heroin that killed Cecilia Gentili on February 6.
- Investigators said cell phone data and text messages show Gentili purchased the drugs the night before he died from Venti, who originally obtained them from Kuilan.
NEW YORK — Two Brooklyn men face charges in connection with the death of a prominent transgender activist and actress in New York City, prosecutors announced.
During an arraignment in federal court in Brooklyn, Michael Kuilan, 44, and Antonio Venti, 52, were accused of supplying the fentanyl-laced heroin that killed Cecilia Gentili on February 6. Investigators said cell phone data and text messages show Gentili bought the drugs the night before he died from Venti, who originally obtained them from Kuilan.
Gentili, 52, died of an overdose at his Marine Park home. According to prosecutors, the NYPD found hundreds of small bags of fentanyl in Kuilan’s Brooklyn apartment, along with a gun.
Gentili’s death serves “a reminder of the dangers that illicit drugs have on all communities, including the LGBTQ+ community,” said Frank Tarentine, special agent with the DEA’s New York division.
The activist’s death was met with widespread grief and pain, as her life was honored by top lawmakers in the city and state. The Argentine immigrant’s funeral at St Patrick’s Cathedral made headlines when some mourners were criticized for the nature of his comments in the church.
Subsequently, the archdiocese reported the incident. In a written statement, the Rev. Enrique Salvo, pastor of Saint Patrick’s, thanked people who he said had informed the church who “share our outrage at the outrageous behavior” at the funeral.
“The Cathedral only knew which family and friends were requesting a funeral mass for a Catholic, and had no idea that our welcome and prayer would be degraded in such a sacrilegious and deceptive manner,” Salvo said in the February statement.
Videos of Gentili’s funeral mass show an estimated audience of more than 1,000 celebrants, including transgender people and other friends and supporters, chanting his name, clapping, singing and praising his stature as a leader of the city’s LGBTQ+ community.
“Except for Easter Sunday, we don’t have such a well-attended crowd,” said Father Edward Dougherty, who presided at the mass.
The conservative group CatholicVote condemned fellow “Pose” actor Billy Porter, whose performance during the funeral was characterized by the group as a mockery of the “Our Father” prayer. “This is just unbelievable and sick,” CatholicVote said on X.
In a statement before the song, Porter called Gentili a leader among “an entire community of people who transformed my life forever.”
The cathedral celebrated a Mass of Reparation after the funeral under the direction of Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York, Salvo said.
But Gentili’s loved ones denounced that allegation, saying the service was meant to welcome people from all walks of life.
At the time, Gentili’s longtime partner called her “an angel” who tirelessly advocated for immigrants, the transgender community, the rights of sex workers and people living with HIV.
A former sex worker who suffered from addiction and was incarcerated at Rikers Island, she became a transgender health program coordinator, nonprofit policy director for an established gay men’s health organization, GMHC, and a lobbyist for health equity. and anti-discrimination legislation, among other advocacy work.
Gentili founded the COIN Clinic, short for Cecilia’s Occupational Inclusion Network, a free health program for sex workers through the community health organization Callen-Lorde in New York.
“New York’s LGBTQ+ community has lost a champion: trans icon Cecilia Gentili,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul posted on X, formerly Twitter, following Gentili’s death.
Gentili starred in the FX television series “Pose,” about the underground ballroom dancing scene in the 1980s and 1990s. He also performed two one-man stage shows.
Brian PD Hannon of The Associated Press contributed to this report.
2024-04-02 03:39:04
#men #charged #distributing #drugs #caused #death #transgender #activist
