Linda Brasil Azevedo Santos (born 14 April 1973) is a teacher,

LGBT rights activist A list of notable LGBT rights activists who have worked to advance LGBT rights by political change, legal action or publication. Ordered by country, alphabetically. Argentina * Claudia Castrosín Verdú, she and her partner were the first lesb ...

, and politician who became the first

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

elected to a parliamentary position in the state of

Sergipe Sergipe (), officially State of Sergipe, is a state of Brazil. Located in the Northeast Region along the Atlantic coast of the country, Sergipe is the smallest state in Brazil by geographical area at , larger only than the Federal District. Serg ...

, Brazil. She was elected in 2020 as a member of the

Socialism and Liberty Party The Socialism and Liberty Party ( pt-BR, Partido Socialismo e Liberdade , PSOL ) is a left-wing political party in Brazil. The party describes itself as socialist and democratic. The party leader is Juliano Medeiros and the federal deputies I ...

. Brasil was born in Santa Rosa de Lima, in the state of

. She attended the

Federal University of Sergipe The Federal University of Sergipe ( pt, Universidade Federal de Sergipe, UFS) is a Brazilian public institution based in Sergipe, with campuses in São Cristóvão, Aracaju, Itabaiana, Laranjeiras, and Lagarto. Founded in 1967 by the junction ...

, attaining a Master's degree in Education. After attending university, she founded AmoSerTrans, an association of transgender people in the state of Sergipe. She also founded CasAmor Neide Silva, a shelter for LGBT youth in Aracaju.

Biography

Brasil was born on 14 April 1973 in Santa Rosa de Lima, Sergipe, Brazil. As an adult, she moved to

Aracaju Aracaju () is the capital of the state of Sergipe, Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country on the coast, about 350 km (217 mi) north of Salvador. According to the 2020 estimate, the city has 664,908 inhabitants, which re ...

and began working in an accounting firm. When she was 30, she left her job, came out as

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

, and opened a beauty salon. In 2013, Brasil filed an administrative proceeding with the

, claiming a professor refused to use her preferred name, instead only referring to her as her legal name. Following the proceeding, the university passed an ordinance which allows the use of a preferred name in academic and administrative settings within the institution. While at the university, she helped found Coletivo

Queer ''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...

Transfeminista (Des)montadxs to discuss questions of gender and sexuality within both the university and Sergipe as a whole. She later became the first trans woman to graduate from the Federal University of Sergipe. In 2015, Brasil partnered with other trans people and allies to create EducaTrans, a preparatory course for the

Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio Exame Nacional do Ensino Médio (; en, National High School Exam), shortened as Enem () is a non-mandatory, standardized Brazilian national exam, which evaluates high school students in Brazil. The ENEM is the most important exam of this kind ...

aimed at transgender students whose main objective was to expand visibility of trans people in the university environment and, later, the labor market. In 2017, Brasil founded CasAmor, an

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

inspired by LGBT shelters in Brazil such as in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...

and in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

. CasAmor aims to provide support to LGBT youth through volunteer work carried out by various professionals including psychologists, architects, designers, engineers, teachers and journalists. The program also aims to temporarily host people who do not have family support due to their

sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...

or gender identity, as well as provide courses and workshops aimed at LGBT youth entering the job market. During the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, CasAmor worked to deliver supplies such as food, cleaning supplies, and personal hygiene materials to LGBT individuals who were in a situation of social vulnerability. In 2021, CasAmor was renamed CasAmor Neide Silva to honor "Tia Neide", a volunteer and member of the advisory board who died of COVID-19 in March 2021.

Political career

Brasil is affiliated with the

(PSOL), running on a platform of human rights, LGBT rights, the reduction of social injustices, the protection of minorities, the fight against

machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...

and

sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but it primarily affects women and girls.There is a clear and broad consensus among academic scholars in multiple fields that sexism refers primari ...

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism ...

, and the defense of

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

. In 2016, Brasil ran for a city council position in Aracaju, receiving 26th place with 2,308 votes (0.83% of the total valid votes). She was the most voted-for candidate affiliated with the PSOL in Aracaju. Although there were 24 open seats, Brasil was not selected as an alternate. Brasil's supporters pointed out institutional

transphobia Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...

during the campaign, as Brasil was required to register as male. In 2018, Brasil ran for state deputy, becoming the 38th most voted-for candidate in Sergipe with 10,107 votes (0.93% of the total votes cast for the Legislative Assembly of Sergipe). She was the most-voted for candidate affiliated with the PSOL. Although the election was held throughout the state of Sergipe, 6,555 of her votes were from Aracaju. Due to a decision by the

Superior Electoral Court The Superior Electoral Court ( pt-BR, Tribunal Superior Eleitoral, TSE) is the highest body of the Brazilian Electoral Justice, which also comprises one Regional Electoral Court ( pt-BR, Tribunal Regional Eleitoral, TRE) in each of the 26 states ...

about the 2018 elections, Brasil was allowed to run as a woman. Due to the results of her previous attempts to run for office, and due to changes in electoral legislation, Brasil was considered a strong candidate by the PSOL to run for an Aracaju city council position. She was launched as a pre-candidate of the PSOL in late 2019, using the slogan "Courage to Transform". In 2020, Brasil was elected to the Aracaju city council, becoming the first trans councilwoman in the city's history. She was the most voted-for candidate affiliated with PSOL, receiving 5,733 votes. Due to this, she was able to preside over the first plenary session of the legislative in 2021.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brasil, Linda Socialism and Liberty Party politicians Brazilian LGBT politicians LGBT feminists Brazilian human rights activists Brazilian transgender people 1973 births Living people Sergipe politicians Brazilian LGBT rights activists Brazilian feminists Women city councillors in Brazil Travestis Transgender women politicians Transfeminists