LOS ANGELES – JAN 09: Pedro Pascal arrives for HBO’s ‘The Last of Us’ premiere on January 09, 2023 in Westwood, CA
Actor and vocal trans ally Pedro Pascal recently shared a clip on his Instagram featuring the late trans activist Cecilia Gentili to express his support for trans rights.
“Know who you are. Progress is inevitable,” he captioned the post, in homage to Gentili’s words.
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The video shows the activist speaking at an NYU Lavender Graduation ceremony in 2023. “Do not allow anyone to tell you that this is not a big deal, or that this is just a culture war, or that trans people are overstating the seriousness of what is going on,” she told the graduates.
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“While we feel the fear and the anger, I also want you to know that trans people have always been here and will always be here.”
“I’ve been a trans person for nearly 50 years,” she said. “Knowing your identity, who you are, and where you come from is powerful… There is a reason that so many of these laws are targeting education. They know it is really powerful to be ourselves.”
“Once we know who we are, we cannot be stopped. I believe firmly that while we might be living through some challenging times, progress is inevitable. The people who are opposed to our existence… can do nothing to erase us or to make us disappear.”
“As long as we are rooted in ourselves, in our identities, in our histories, and in our communities, there is nothing that they can do to stop us. I hope that you all take this fear, this frustration, this anger that you’re feeling in this moment, and that that inspires you to even do more for our community rather than give in to the people who wish for us to just disappear. We must meet this moment by caring for one to another and strengthening our communities,” she said, fighting back tears.
Gentili died in September at age 52 from taking fentanyl-laced heroin. Among many other legacies, she appeared on the trans-led TV series Pose and founded the nation’s first health clinic for sex workers.
In 2021, Gentili told LGBTQ Nation that one of the most important ways to fight transphobia is visibility, and, as she put it, a need to continue to “integrate trans people into the public narrative.”
Pascal has shown his support for the LGBTQ+ community on multiple occasions. Whether it’s simply putting his pronouns on his Instagram profile and wishing his followers a happy Pride Month or expressing his love for his transgender sister.
Pascal is known for being incredibly supportive of his sister, Lux. “Mi hermana, mi corazón, nuestra Lux,” Pascal wrote in a post to Instagram when she came out in 2021. The post shared a photo of Lux, who appeared on the cover of the Chilean magazine Revista Ya. Translated, his caption means, “My sister, my heart, our Lux.”
Citing her brother as a “guide,” Lux told the magazine that Pascal “was one of the first people to gift me the tools that started shaping my identity.”
When she came out to him via FaceTime, the first thing her older brother did was “asked me how I felt, because I remember he was a little worried.”
Then, he said, “perfect, this is incredible,” she recalled.
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