• Transgender Equity Consulting has been awarded the funding to help tackled HIV transmission in the trans and sex worker community
  • The firm is headed by former sex worker Cecilia Gentili 
  • The grant was first awarded in 2021 and funding will continue until 2026

The Centers for Disease Control has given $540,000 to a trans outreach program to help combat HIV transmission within the community.

Transgender Equity Consulting is a firm run by Cecilia Gentili, who is an Argentinian trans woman and former sex worker who admits to living in the US ‘undocumented’ for ten years.

Her firm was first awarded the grant by the federal government as part of a national drive to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 2021. 

So far, it has received $360,000 of the total funding, which will continue until 2026.

Gentili fled her homeland seeking a safer existence as a trans woman in the US. She set up Transgender Equity Consulting in 2019 to offer consultancy on ‘LGBTQ diversity and inclusion (DEI) and services towards a more just world.’

Today Trans Equity Consulting runs outreach events for the queer community and sex workers, including self-defense classes, BBQs and poetry slams. 

The CDC has given $540,000 to Transgender Equity Consulting, a firm offering 'consultancy on ' LGBTQ diversity and inclusion (DEI) and services towards a more just world.' The company is headed up by Cecilia Gentili, an Argentinian trans woman and former sex worker who admits to living in the US 'undocumented' for 10 years

The CDC has given $540,000 to Transgender Equity Consulting, a firm offering ‘consultancy on ‘ LGBTQ diversity and inclusion (DEI) and services towards a more just world.’ The company is headed up by Cecilia Gentili, an Argentinian trans woman and former sex worker who admits to living in the US ‘undocumented’ for 10 years

She advocates for the decriminalization of people working in the sex trade and states she was 'instrumental' in the development of two statewide bills to provide survivors of trafficking with record relief and to end the criminalization of ‘loitering’

 She advocates for the decriminalization of people working in the sex trade and states she was ‘instrumental’ in the development of two statewide bills to provide survivors of trafficking with record relief and to end the criminalization of ‘loitering’

Trans Equity Consulting states it is comprised of six black and Latinx transgender and non-binary individuals. 

It aims to ‘end stigma, uplift community and provide access to resources in real time to combat social determinants of health with an emphasis on healthcare access for black and Latinx transgender and queer communities’.

The grant will be used to distribute ‘Let’s Stop HIV Together’ campaign materials containing information on ‘prevention, testing and linkage to care resources while in a space of connection.’

The taxpayer money was awarded in the wake of COVID-19, which saw disparate outcomes for the communities the consultancy aims to assist, according to the firm. 

The firm also aims to ensure its users have housing, clean water and employment and access to a community.

It is headed up by Gentili, who is open about her past in sex work and struggles with addiction and brushes with the law

Her website details how she faced ‘multiple arrests’ and an immigration detention center before she eventually accessed recovery services and successfully won asylum.

The grant was first awarded in 2021 and funding will continue until 2026 as part of the CDC's national plan to help eradicate HIV transmission

The grant was first awarded in 2021 and funding will continue until 2026 as part of the CDC’s national plan to help eradicate HIV transmission

Transgender Equity Consulting offers information on HIV transmission and criminalization as part of its work

Gentili's firm hopes to offer a community for marginalized trans and non-binary people and sex workers through events such as this 'Flames and Seduction'

Transgender Equity Consulting offers outreach events including information on HIV criminalization (left) and meet-ups including BBQs for sex workers (right) as part of its work

Gentili began her career in community services as an intern at The LGBT Center in New York City before going on to bring in trans health services at the Apicha Community Health Center. 

She describes how witnessing ‘so many clients affected by institutional discrimination and widespread lack of access’ she decided to move into policy work with GHNC.

Gentili previously served as Director of Policy at GMHC, a non-profit providing HIV/AIDS prevention, care and advocacy from 2016 to 2019. 

She advocates for the decriminalization of people working in the sex trade and states she was ‘instrumental’ in the development of two statewide bills to provide survivors of trafficking with record relief and to end the criminalization of ‘loitering.’

DailyMail.com reached out to both the CDC and Transgender Equity Consulting about the grant. 

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Post source: Daily mail