Brazil’s trans city councilors endure prejudice, threats and violence

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In the 2020 elections, Brazil elected 28 trans city councilors. All report having suffered some kind of violence during the exercise of their mandate.

In the last elections, in 2020, Brazil elected 28 trans city councilors. These are women who had significant votes at the ballot box, but routinely face prejudice, intolerance, and violence. All of them reported having suffered some kind of threat. And one of them was forced to leave the country.

A trans woman who manages to get into a university, work in politics and get elected has already been through enough. But even for those who have been rejected by their families, excluded in school and forced into prostitution, it is hard to live with virtual violence and real threats.

The Marielle Franco Institute conducted a survey on violence suffered by elected trans women in Brazil. There are 28 across the country – most from leftist parties. All of them report having suffered some kind of violence during their term of office. Almost 23% of these women (22.8%) said they had suffered threats for being trans. And almost half of these threats came from unidentified individuals or groups.

“One of them (the threats), which is very shocking, very striking, is a signed e-mail saying that he was going to buy a 9mm gun, containing my home address, some personal data, and he would come to my house to kill me if I didn’t resign the mandate in which I was elected the most voted woman in the city,” said Niterói city councilor Benny Briolly (PSOL).

Source: G1

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