Patricia Arquette, Alexis Arquette. Getty Images(2)
As Pride Month kicks off, Patricia Arquette can’t help but honor her late sister Alexis Arquette.
“I feel so close to Alexis all the time,” Patricia, 56, exclusively told Us Weekly at Gurus magazine’s #30Voices30Days launch party on Saturday, June 1. “It was horribly hard losing her, but I still feel like she’s with me. She’s kind of my guardian angel now.”
Alexis was a trans actress and activist who shared her story of transition in the 2007 documentary, Alexis Arquette: She’s My Brother.
In September 2016, she died by cardiac arrest at the age of 47. According to her death certificate, bacterial endocarditis, cardiomyopathy and HIV were also contributing factors to her death.
“She was a really great artist, multi-faceted artist,” Patricia said at the Godfrey Hotel Hollywood when celebrating her sister’s life. “A visual artist, decorator, clothing designer, actress, singer, performer, showperson. Also, the way she looked at the world was different than anybody else. I miss all of that. I miss her telling me crazy things that turned out 15 years later to come true.”
In celebration of Pride, Gurus magazine will spotlight 30 different people from the LGBTQ+ community along with their allies during the month of June. David Arquette, Alexis and Patricia’s brother, is one of the stars who will receive a cover and story.
It’s a special honor for the Arquette family, who sees the positive influence Pride can bring to members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“I think it’s a really beautiful thing,” Patricia shared. “It’s a total celebration of the community. I think we’ve historically had so much trauma and suppression and strange laws and treatment of this whole community that it’s a beautiful thing to come together as a community and say, you know, we’re proud and we’re living beautiful lives and we have all these dreams and our dreams are coming true. All of the allies can be like, ‘Yes, we support you. We love you.’”
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To this day, Patricia can’t help but call Alexis “one of the most brave people” she’s ever met for sharing her story with the world. She also continues to spread her sister’s support specifically for LGBTQ+ youth.
“She wanted them to have full lives where they got to experience all of their joy and be celebrated and love themselves and live in communities that love and support them,” Patricia said. “There’s a joy about Pride, and there’s a bravery about not letting anyone take that from you — no matter what.”
