March 22, 2022

09:03

Priscilla Peixoto – Cenarium Magazine

MANAUS – The participation of the LGBTQIA+ population has been increasingly present in Brazilian elections. The municipal election of 2020, for example, was one of the ones that presented more pre-candidates declared to belong to the community. According to data from the National LGBTI Alliance, there were more than 430 names considered for the latest electoral contests in the country. This year, some names are already beginning to resonate, especially those referring to the T community, in search of a place in the National Congress.

According to information from the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (Antra), so far, six names that represent the trans population are already in pre-campaign. They are Erika Hilton (PSOL- SP), Érica Malunguinho (PSOL-SP), Robeyoncé Lima (PSOL-PE), Duda Salabert (PDT-MG), Indianare Siqueira (PT-RJ), and Ariadna Arantes (No Party).

In the Amazon, so far, there is still no prominent name to dispute the 2022 elections, however, names like Bruna La Close, Jacqueline Maldonado, and Tatiana Freitas have already been disputed in previous elections, in an attempt to bring representation and work on public policies aimed at this portion of the population.

According to the president of the Association of Transvestites, Transsexuals and Transgenders of Amazonas (Assotram), Joyce Alves, although the participation of LGBTQIA+ people is increasingly frequent in electoral disputes, the necessary support is still not available to candidates.

“Among some of these candidacies, I see that some people are still treated as orange candidates, the party launches and doesn’t support, only letting it happen for quota issues that they have to fulfill. I hope this will change”, comments Assotram’s president.

Data and Reference

Born in Piauí, on April 24, 1949, Kátia Nogueira Tapety, at 73, is a political figure of national reference. In 1992, Kátia was the first transsexual woman elected for political office, being the best voted councilwoman at the time, repeating the feat in the elections of 1996 and 2000.

After 30 years of Kátia Nogueira’s feat, the political scene has been undergoing transformations, monitored, even, by Antra, which, since 2014, monitors profile research, publication, and broadcasting, with commitment, for representativeness in elections.

According to the association, more than 294 transvestites, transsexual women and trans men and other trans people ran in the 2020 elections, of which 30 were elected, representing a 275% increase in trans people elected compared to 2016 (same election), when there were 89 candidacies and only 8 people elected.

Substantial transformation

Just as the president of Assotram, Joyce Alves, still points out the need for support and improvements when the agenda is the LGBT movement in politics, for the lawyer and member of the Manas collective bench, in Manaus, Alessandrine Silva, there needs to be a substantial transformation in the country’s politics.

“It is past time that we have more women, more black people, more LGBTQIA+ people to address the agendas and build a more equal society. This change needs to be urgent”, considers Alessandrine.

She recalls that, on average, 10% of the Brazilian population is LGBTQIA+, and it is essential that this community be represented in the elections, with support and encouragement from political parties, and that they be elected, especially to legislative seats, promoting diversity.

“This group is the victim of murder by homo, trans, and biphobia every 23 hours in Brazil, and the life expectancy of trans men and women is 35 years. And despite all these painful data, the discussions, which occur in the CMM and Aleam, about this, are terrifying. Every day, the houses that should be plural are stages of discrimination and exclusion of people like me (bisexual) from the debate about cities”, she concludes.

“Emancipation of all”

For Álex Sousa, a non-binary trans person and leader of PSOL Amazonas, talking about LGBTQIA+ representation in politics is the bare minimum. “Having LGBTQIA+ bodies in these spaces is very important so that other bodies can see themselves in politics. Institutional politics is not easy, and we won’t be able to demand the necessary changes while the vast majority that occupies these spaces are white, heterosexual, cisgender, and conservative bodies”, Álex Sousa told CENARIUM MAGAZINE.

In the leader’s reading, no LGBTQIA+ person is defined only by their gender identity or sexual orientation, LGBTQIA+ people have race and class. “It doesn’t make sense for us to elect an LGBTQIA+ person just for representation and this person to be in favor of agendas that turn against the rights of women, black men and women, indigenous, PCDs, neurodivergents, students, and workers. The representation we want is the representation that seeks the emancipation of all”, she concludes.