Ana Ester Padua Freire

The Brazilian electoral process has been an important democratic instrument of nonviolent action. It is not only the act of voting, it is also about the fact that running for executive and legislative positions has been a means of resistance to violence on the part of groups considered minorities. Among them stands out the transgender population that has resisted violence through an articulated presence in Brazilian politics.

According to the Dossier: murders and violence against Brazilian transvestites and transsexuals in 2022, prepared by the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals, ANTRA, Brazil is the country that murders trans people the most in the world, according to data from the research project Trans Murder Monitoring. There it is indicated that, between 2008 and 2022, Brazil has accumulated 37.5% of all deaths of trans people in the world. Accompanying these data, Rede Trans Brasil, in its document National Registry of Murders and Violations of Human Rights of Trans People in Brazil (2022), states that, in relation to the murders of trans people in the world, 68% of all recorded murders occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean, where 29% of the total occurred in Brazil.

Faced with this scenario of extreme violence against trans people, an important articulation of this population has been noted, especially in the field of electoral candidacies. ANTRA, in the last general elections in Brazil in 2022, mapped 79 trans candidates, of which 70 were transvestites and trans women, five trans men and four candidates with non-binary identities. This is 49% more than in the 2018 national elections. ANTRA also showed that five transgender candidates were elected, two as federal deputies —Erika Hilton (São Paulo) and Duda Salabert (Minas Gerais)— and three as state deputies —Linda Brasil (Sergipe), Dani Balbi (Rio de Janeiro) and Carolina Iara (São Paulo). The first two are among the fifty most voted federal deputies in Brazil.

Despite the fact that Law No. 14.192/2021, known as the Political Violence Law, which was sanctioned in August 2021, establishes norms to prevent, suppress and combat political violence against women during elections and in the exercise of political rights and public functions, the electoral process was markedly violent. For example, on election day, Duda Salabert had to go vote wearing a bulletproof vest because, as stated in the Estado de Minas article (2022), she received nine death threats during her candidacy. According to the president of Rede Trans Brasil, Tathiane Araújo, this violence consolidates a scenario of very serious human rights violations because it prevents the full democratic experience of representation and political participation.

In this context of violence against transgender candidates, it is important to note that Duda Salabert was the second most voted candidate in the state of Minas Gerais. And this second place says a lot about how political and, therefore, ideological polarization has been built in Brazil. This means that, on the one hand, there is a political trend towards progressive ideals, such as the protection of minorities and respect for human rights; although, on the other hand, there is a strong political conservatism that has been structured through evangelical fundamentalism. The candidate who received more votes than Duda in Minas Gerais was one of the youngest representatives of the Brazilian extreme right, Nikolas Ferreira. At 26 years old, Nikolas was not only the most voted in the state of Minas Gerais but in all of Brazil, receiving 1,492,047 votes, while Duda received 208,296 votes. This difference in votes shows how the extreme right has articulated from the bases, strengthening the candidacies of young people who dispute moral agendas. Nikolas is not only a name that stands out in politics, he is also one of the most important figures of the evangelical Christian youth that builds a political agenda based on religious fundamentalism. Still, with nearly 86% fewer votes than Nikolas, Duda is in the Brazilian National Congress, and she’s not alone. She is accompanied by Erika Hilton, a name that stood out in the 2020 municipal elections for being the most voted councilor in Brazil.

Erika, transvestite and black, in an interview with CNN Brasil (2023), said We occupy previously unimaginable places! The occupation of public space by transsexual people is the beginning of a period of historical restoration of violence against this population in Brazil. Less than a month into her term, Erika disclosed on her social networks that, together with the National LGBTI Alliance, she is articulating the creation of a Mixed Parliamentary Front in defense of citizenship and LGBTI + rights. What was previously unimaginable is now a reality with transformative power that is organized through democratic practices of nonviolence. It is already possible to imagine another future for the trans population in which justice, dignity and equity build a democracy that truly represents all people.

Ana Ester Padua Freire
Brazilian theologian, Master and Doctor in Religious Sciences. She co-chairs the GIN-SSOGIE Board of Directors. Member of the Brazilian Association of Transhomocultural Studies (ABETH). LGBTIA+ activist.

Translated by Damian Vásquez