Rosanna Arquette says her family has PTSD since Alexis Arquette's death.

Alexis Arquette

Alexis Arquette

It is almost two years since the transgender star - who had been battling HIV for years - died from cardiac arrest and Alexis' sister Rosanna admitted the family are still struggling to cope.

Speaking on 'Watch What Happens Live', she said: "It's been fractured and hard since Alexis passed. It's been really painful for all of us. We're in PTSD."

Rosanna also shared one of the most special traditions she and Alexis had.

She said: "Well, every birthday - July 28th will be her birthday that's coming up - and we would go out to a special lunch just the two of us. That was a very special time, and we always had champagne."

Alexis passed away on September 11, 2016 at the age of 47 and the death was announced on Facebook.

Alexis' brother Richmond wrote at the time: "Our brother Robert, who became our brother Alexis, who became our sister Alexis, who became our brother Alexis, passed this morning September 11, at 12:32 am. He was surrounded by all of his brothers and sisters, one of his nieces and several other loved ones. We were playing music for him and he passed during David Bowie's Starman. As per his wishes, we cheered at the moment that he transitioned to another dimension.

"I am feeling immense gratitude to have been afforded the luxury of sharing life with him/her, for learning from Alexis, for being given the gift of being able to love her/him and to be loved by him/her. He was a force. He died as he lived, on his own terms. I am immensely grateful that it was fast and painless. It was an incredible moving experience and I am humbled and grateful to have been able to have been with him as he began his journey onward. Thank you, Alexis, I love you and will always love you (sic)."

Sibling Patricia added in a further statement: "Alexis was a brilliant artist and painter, a singer, an entertainer and an actor. Her career was cut short, not by her passing, but by her decision to live her truth and her life as a transgender woman. Despite the fact that there are few parts for trans actors, she refused to play roles that were demeaning or stereotypical. She was a vanguard in the fight for understanding and acceptance for all trans people."


Tagged in