Phoebe Judge

Are there fewer clients now?

How much of sex work is talking?

Making people feel good about themselves and not... A lot.

Cecilia now lives in Queens.

She was granted asylum in 2011.

She plans to apply for citizenship next year.

Today she's active in efforts to decriminalize sex work in New York.

She runs a policy reform organization called Trans Equity, and she leads a support group for undocumented trans Latinas.

What do you want to say now to that little girl thinking that she was an alien, seeing all that you've seen now and where you are in your life?

What would you say to that little girl?

We first released this episode in 2019.

Cecilia Gentile became a U.S.

citizen a few years after we spoke, in 2022.

She died on February 6, 2024.

Over a thousand people attended her funeral.

Criminal is created by Lauren Spohr and me.

Nadia Wilson is our senior producer.

Katie Bishop is our supervising producer.

Our producers are Susanna Robertson, Jackie Sajico, Lily Clark, Lena Sillison, and Megan Kinane.

This episode was originally mixed by Rob Byers.