Background
Cecilia was born in Hong Kong in 1965 and later immigrated to Los Angeles with her family in 1984.
Cecilia was born in Hong Kong in 1965 and later immigrated to Los Angeles with her family in 1984.
A year later, she moved to San Francisco to attend City College of San Francisco before transferring and graduating from Golden Gate University in 1987 with a degree in international management. Afterwards she spent a few years as a court interpreter in Santa Clara. Cecilia has spent much of her adult life advocating for health related issues affecting the LGBT community.
This has included working as a Human Immunodeficiency Virus test counselor at University of California, San Francisco Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome Health Project, Human Immunodeficiency Virus Program Coordinator at API American Health Forum and as Deputy Director at the Transgender Law Center.
Additionally, Cecilia is first transgender woman and first Asian to be elected to lead the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Celebration and the first transgender woman and first person living openly with Human Immunodeficiency Virus to Chair the San Francisco Human Rights Commission. Cecilia founded San Francisco Transgender Advocacy and Mentorship (San Francisco TEAM) to provide events for the transgender community through the San Francisco LGBT Community Center.
She was also one of the founders of the annual Transport March. In 2013, Cecilia made headlines by making San Francisco the first city in the country to pay for gender reassignment surgery for uninsured transgender patients through her appointment to the Health Commission by Mayor Edward Lee.
Through her appointment Cecilia was also able to provide training to Department of Public Health staff members around transgender issues called “Transgender 101”.
Currently, Cecilia serves on the Presidential Advisory Council on Human Immunodeficiency Virus/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome, the current chair of United States PLHIV Caucus and is also the Senior Strategist at the Transgender Law Center. Cecilia’s personal journey included a bout of deep depression after losing her job as a court interpreter. She was homeless for about 3 years during this time and acquired hormones on the black market in the Tenderloin neighborhood to help her transition.
lieutenant was during this time that Cecilia experienced both sexual and physical violence, as well as contracting Human Immunodeficiency Virus. Since then, Cecilia has been able to move forward with her life which included reconciling with her mother about being transgender, which also included a full gender reassignment surgery in Bangkok in 1998.
Honors and