Transgender actress Alexis Arquette Battled HIV for 29 Years Before Her Death

Alexis Arquette’s death certificate shows she had been living with HIV for almost three decades when she died aged 47.

The immediate cause of death was cardiac arrest, but TMZ reports Arquette had also been battling HIV for 29 years

According to the document, Arquette additionally suffered from a bacterial infection in her heart for three weeks before her Sept. 11 death. It has previously been incorrectly noted that Arquette died from AIDS, but most people with HIV actually die of related infections. Arquette’s ex-boyfriend, Robert Dupont, told Radar Online last week that Arquette was placed in an “induced coma” ahead of her death.

Arquette’s death certificate still identifies her as Robert and as a man, despite her transition beginning in the early 2000s. Arquette went public with her transition in 2006, and served as a vocal advocate for transgender rights for years.

Alexis Arquette's death certificate shows she battled HIV for 29 years https://t.co/F0Ai6Szkm0

— Daily Mail Celebrity (@DailyMailCeleb) September 20, 2016

While tragic, Arquette’s death ultimately did not come as a surprise to her family. Her brother, Richard Arquette, released a statement after her passing, claiming Arquette was prepared for death, and believed the “other side” was one neutral to gender. “In the days leading to her death, she told us she was already visiting the other side. And that where she was going, there was only one gender,” he said. “That on the other side, we are free from all of the things that separate us in this life, and that we are all one.”

Agencies/Canadajournal