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29/01/2025

For life, rights and dignity: the National March (MarSha) for Transgender Visibility

Thousands of people came together at events in Brasília to fight for rights and oppose transphobia; Keila Simpson, from Antra, discusses the challenges facing the transgender community in an interview with Conectas

Foto: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil Foto: Fernando Frazão/Agência Brasil

On 26 January, transgender people and allies met in Brasília (Federal District) for the second edition of the National March (Marsha) for Transgender Visibility – the spelling with ´sh´ is a tribute to the North American Activist, Marsha P. Johnson, a pioneer of the LGBTI+ movement. The event features a number of activities during the last week of the month, to mark National Transgender Visibility Day celebrated on 29 January. 

On a bright Sunday, thousands of people walked through the Praça dos Três Poderes and the Esplanade of the Ministries to advocate for public policies to defend transgender childhood and youth, healthy, safe and dignified transgender aging, an end to transfemicides and the right to transgender healthcare in the Universal Health Service.

In an interview with Conectas, on 24 January, the activist, Keila Simpson talked about the fight for the human rights of the transgender community and the role of these public events in the federal capital. Keila is hailed as one of the most important LGBTI+ activists in Brazil. She has been working with the LGBTI+ community since 1991, first in Salvador (Bahia) and later at the national level.

She is one of the founders of Antra, a pioneer in the work of preventing HIV/Aids in Brazil and has also been the vice-president of the Brazilian Association for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Travestis, Transsexuals and Intersex People (ABGLT). In 2024, she became the first Brazilian travesti to receive an Honorary Doctorate at UERJ.

See the interview here: 

Conectas: Antra is organizing the 2nd Transgender March (MarSha) in Brasília. It will take place from 25 to 28 January. Could you tell us how this event came about and its importance, and highlight some of the main goals and expectations for the MarSha this year?

Keila Simpson: The march came about in response to setbacks at the federal level, and also as a way of demonstrating through mass mobilization, that we must always be on the streets. The MarSha is a street event that aims to raise awareness about the agendas and causes of the transgender community, but it is also a time to celebrate and give visibility to bodies that are hidden the whole year round and are exposed to violence and discrimination (…). MarSha is organized by Antra with the participation of other transgender movements, partnerships with cisgender organizations, and state, federal and municipal governments. It is a large mobilization of people and organizations who aim to combat discrimination and violence and advocate for social inclusion.

We need to be visible every year and not just in this period. We are not seeking privileges, but rather reparation. We are a marginalized community, and we take these opportunities to reflect on occupying a central position in the political debate and on claiming our rights […]. MarSha is just one aspect of this mobilization which goes on throughout the year, with organizations from all over Brazil. This event, on 26 January, is the culmination of several actions, in Brasília, showcasing our movement and advocating for more policies to include a still-excluded community.

Conectas: What are the association´s principal demands and priorities in 2025?

Keila Simpson:  Antra has been focusing heavily on political education. We are developing projects in this area, in addition to working on knowledge production. We will continue on this path. We are conducting a study called Traviarcas, on which I am one of the researchers. The project is listening to transgender people and travestis who are over 45 years old, in different states and regions of Brazil, analyzing their living conditions, social interactions and the environment in their towns and cities. We are analyzing whether the towns and cities have suitable conditions to accommodate aging transgender bodies […] Based on this diagnosis, we will publish the study to advocate for public policies.

We have another project, in partnership with the national networks ABONG and ABGLT, focused on strengthening the institutional capacity of these organizations and monitoring organizations affiliated with Antra and ABGLT to identify the process of weakening within these entities. Civil society organizations have been facing big setbacks in terms of support, particularly financial support. The Luminate project, our funding organization, is also going to work on institutional strengthening. So, our pillars in 2025 are: institutional strengthening, data production, training and mobilization for MarSha. These are the principal focuses for the year ahead. 

Conectas: How do you assess the impact of fake news and misinformation  specifically on the LGBTI+ community? What are the main threats? Is there a way to create strategies to guarantee human rights in digital environments?

Keila Simpson: Misinformation is extremely harmful. Not only does it spread lies but also contaminates people who then construct narratives to confirm the lies. This is dangerous, violent and divisive.  This encourages violence and allows people to commit violent acts against others, often without even knowing them. Fake news creates tensions and we often find ourselves in discussions on social media with people who are far away, defending their ´truths´ as though this were quite natural in such a complex and diverse world.  So, misinformation aggravates this situation.

As well as being violent, fake news hinders our capacity to respond. We have been carrying out positive actions on social media promoting what we believe to be right. We are not imposing our point of view, but asking for our right to freedom of expression to be respected in a democratic and plural context. Our communications channels are informative, and we seek to make them increasingly educational and edifying so that society can use these spaces to share knowledge and to reflect. Although we have reached a portion of the population, we know there is still resistance from those who are opposed that what we believe to be important. But we are resolute and are working to ensure that our community is treated respectfully.

Conectas: In 2013, you received the National Human Rights Award for your services to the LGBTQIA+ community in Brazil. Looking back, what have been the most significant advances you have witnessed since then? And what are the most urgent challenges that we still need to address in order to guarantee full citizenship and respect for transgender people in Brazil?

Keila Simpson: I received the award in 2013, 21 years ago. It was a very different landscape back then. There wasn´t the same senseless violence and political polarization had not yet hit social media and the streets. Violence existed, but it wasn´t carried out with the same degree of pride as it is today. Nowadays people are proud of being violent and of spreading lies which didn´t happen 20 years ago. The process of setbacks started and with that politics entered the agendas of the social movements. “National saviors” and “anticorruption groups” emerged and we started to see a distortion in the criticisms which directly impacted our movements. Right-wing governments undermined our capacity to work and getting out of this process is not easy.

We have been working hard on strengthening our organizations and seeking more direct communications with public authorities to advocate for citizenship and to create better conditions for the transgender community. Antra has been setting up education and training projects as well as mass actions. Amid the setbacks, we continue to create reparation actions for our experiences. One significant advance was the introduction of transgender people into politics, with some being elected. There are still only a few of us but this represents an important opportunity for expansion. With each passing year we see more qualified transgender people running for office. Leaders are more mature and aware that they do not have to discuss only agendas that disrespect their identities. Transgender parliamentarians, at different levels, work for the community as a whole, not limiting themselves to one specific sector of society. They work broadly on public policy in the cities and states where they are active.

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