“We want dignified spaces in society”

During the hearing on the 30th at the Committee for the Defense of Women’s Rights of the Chamber of Deputies, the deputy Colonel Fernanda stated that trans women are stealing the “place” of “real women”.

Furthermore, the parliamentarian claimed that cisgender women should not compete for space with transgender women.

Erika Hiltonwhich next to Duda Salabert makes up the first trans bench in Congress, did not hesitate to respond to the deputy’s speech. The parliamentarian, a member of the LGBTQIAPN+ community, said that statements like Coronel’s are the reasons why transgender women have not historically been represented in the National Congress.

“We want dignified spaces in society. We want our right to citizenship. We want our right to life. We want to walk in the streets with our heads held high without fear of being killed, raped, ridiculed, raped, for the simple fact of being who we are”, Erika said.

Hilton stated that violent and discriminatory speeches will not be accepted in the Chamber of Deputies. In addition to Erika, Duda Salabert also took a stand during the debate and pointed out data on the reality of Brazil, being the country that kills the most transvestites and transsexuals in the world.

Duda also emphasized that the humanity of the trans community continues to be neglected by society, opposing the notion of competition suggested by Congresswoman Fernanda and also clarified that the fight of trans women is, above all, for dignity.

The deputy Fernanda Melchionna also stated that “the Women’s Commission cannot silently accept transphobic violence”, and called the attention of the President of the Chamber not to accept the naturalization of transphobia and demanded an attitude from superiors.