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Transgender rights in Brazil include the right to change one's legal name and sex without the need of surgery or professional evaluation, and the right to sex reassignment surgery provided by Brazil's public health service, the Sistema Único de Saúde .
Before 2009
In 1993, the first Brazilian national meeting was held among transgender individuals. [1] This meeting was known as the National Meeting of Transvestites and Liberated People. [1] By 1995, gay and lesbian national meetings were being attended by transgender activist groups. [1] Then, in 1996, the National Meeting of Transvestites and Liberated People Fighting Against AIDS was held. [1]
Brazil participated in the drafting of the Statement on Human Rights, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. This document was presented in December 2008. [2] Brazil helped organize the launch of the Yogyakarta Principles in 2007. [2]
Changing legal gender assignment in Brazil is legal according to the Superior Court of Justice of Brazil, as stated in a decision rendered on 17 October 2009. [3]
Unanimously, the 3rd Class of the Superior Court of Justice approved allowing the option of name and gender change on the birth certificate of a transgender person who has undergone sex reassignment surgery.
The understanding of the ministers was that it made no sense to allow people to have such surgery performed in the free federal health system and not allow them to change their name and gender in the civil registry. [4]
The ministers followed the vote of the rapporteur, Nancy Andrighi, who argued that "if Brazil consents to the possibility of surgery, it should also provide the means for the individual to have a decent life in society". In the opinion of the rapporteur, preventing the record change for a transgender person who has gone through sex reassignment surgery could constitute a new form of social prejudice, and cause more psychological instability. [5] She explained:
"The issue is delicate. At the beginning of compulsory civil registry, distinction between the two sexes was determined according to the genitalia. Today there are other influential factors, and that identification can no longer be limited to the apparent sex. There is a set of social, psychological problems that must be considered. Vetoing this exchange would be putting the person in an untenable position, subject to anxieties, uncertainty, and more conflict." [6]
According to Minister João Otávio de Noronha of the Superior Court of Justice, transgender people should have their social integration ensured with respect to their dignity, autonomy, intimacy and privacy, which must therefore incorporate their civil registry. [7]
The Supreme Federal Court ruled on 1 March 2018, that a transgender person has the right to change their official name and sex without the need of surgery or professional evaluation, just by self-declaration of their psychosocial identity. On 29 June, the Corregedoria Nacional de Justiça, a body of the National Justice Council published the rules to be followed by registry offices concerning the subject. [8]
In 2020, a study was conducted to understand the quality of life of Brazilian transgender children. [9] 32 participants were involved in the study, and they were either interviewed or placed into focus groups to gather their perspective. [9]
The term social name is the designation by which someone identifies and is socially recognized, replacing the name given at birth or civil registry. [10] At the federal level, the main law that guarantees the use of the corporate name is from April 2016. This decree regulated the use of the social name by bodies and entities of the direct, autonomous, and foundational federal public administration. This includes bodies such as the INSS, Receita Federal (CPF), hospitals and universities. Since then, the social name has been recognized in various contexts, including the SUS, banks, and education systems. [11]
There is no recognition of a third gender option nationwide, but since 2020 non-binary and intersex people have been getting court authorizations to register their sex as "unspecified", "non-identified", "intersex", [12] or "non-binary" in the civil registry. [13] [14] [15] [16] For the purpose of filling out and printing the Identity Card, the gender field must follow the ICAO standardization, with 1 character, M, F or X (for non-binary people). Since January 11, 2024, issuing bodies in the States and the Federal District have been obliged to adopt these Identity Card standards established by the Federal Government. The information in the gender field can be self-determined and self-declared by the person when filling in the data, at the Identification Institutes. In the current context, of the 3,502,816 IDs issued, there are 192 National Identity Cards, that is, 0.01% defined in the gender field as "X". [17] [18]
While requesting a new passport, Brazilians are able to select an unspecified sex. According to the Federal Police, the body responsible for issuing Brazilian passports, in response to the requirement for access to registered information, the "not specified" option, in these terms, was implemented in the application form passport application in 2007, with the advent of the "New Passport", popularly known as the "blue cape model". Before that, however, the option already existed, and was declared on printed and typed forms in the old "cover model" notebooks green". Following the international standard, the "unspecified" option is represented in the passport with the letter X, instead of the letters M or F, for male or female, respectively. The gender option contained in the passport must reflect the information expressed in the birth certificate or other official identification document. I.e, whenever the information expressed on the certificate is different from "male" or "female", the alternative will be used. The use of option X, or "not specified", comes from the international standard ICAO (International Civil Aviation Organization), which specifies the printing of the "Gender of the holder" by "use of the initial letter commonly used in the country of origin", being "capital letter F for feminine, M for masculine, or X for unspecified". Following ICAO standards, among others, is precisely what confers recognition of a passport by other countries. [19] [20]
Since 12 September 2021, by decision of the National Justice Council, notaries must register intersex children with the sex ignored on birth certificates. [21] [22] [23] [24]
The state of Rio de Janeiro, thanks to the work of the State Public Defender's Office, has been allowing non-binary people to register their birth certificates and identity cards with the "non-binary" gender in gender-neutral language. [25] [26]
On April 22, 2022, Rio Grande do Sul Justice assured non-binary people to change their first name and sex in their birth record, according to their self-perceived identity, regardless of judicial authorization, allowing include the expression "non-binary" in the sex field upon a request made by the interested party to a notary's office. [27] [28]
On May 9, 2022, Bahia Justice publishes provision allowing the inclusion of “non-binary” gender in the Civil Registry. [29] [30]
In 2023, Paraíba, Paraná, Tocantins, and Federal District recognized non-binary gender markers. [31] [32] [33] [34] However, in October 2023, the National Justice Council, at the request of the TJES, issued a document precluding "non-binary" as a gender marker. The document quotes Luiz Fux, who claimed that “(…) There is no third gender, nor is this the claim”. [35] [36] In November 2023, TJPR revoked non-binary recognition, establishing that the right to administrative replacement of first name and sex in civil registration does not cover the possibility of expanding genders, limited to “male” and “female”. [37] TJRS, in December 2023, also revoked the provision that recognized non-binary rectification in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. [38]
In January 2024, a public civil action by the Federal Court of Paraná determined that the Federal Revenue must include the options "unspecified", "non-binary" and "intersex" in the sex field of the CPF, guaranteeing the right to rectification to those who interest. [39]Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), the public health system in Brazil, provides processo transexualizador (PrTr or PT-SUS, English: transsexualizing process). [40] This includes psychological counseling, hormone therapy, and sex reassignment surgeries. [41]
Since 2008, the SUS has offered sex reassignment surgeries free of charge, in accordance with a court ruling that recognizes the importance of these procedures for the health and well-being of trans people. [42] In addition, Ordinance No. 2,803 of 2013 redefined and expanded the Transsexualization Process, [43] [44] ensuring a more comprehensive and inclusive approach. And it made adjustments in 2023. [45] [46]
The first male-to-female gender-affirming surgery in Brazil was Performed by Dr. Roberto Farina in the 1970s. He was prosecuted for his actions but was eventually acquitted of all charges in 1979. [47]
In 2008, Brazil's public health system started providing free sex reassignment surgery in compliance with a court order. Federal prosecutors had argued that gender reassignment surgery was covered under a constitutional clause guaranteeing medical care as a basic right. [48]
The Regional Federal Court agreed, saying in its ruling:
"from the biomedical perspective, transsexuality can be described as a sexual identity disturbance where individuals need to change their sexual designation or face serious consequences in their lives, including intense suffering, mutilation and suicide."
Patients must be at least 18 years old and diagnosed as transgender with no personality disorders, and must undergo psychological evaluation with a multidisciplinary team for at least two years, begins with 16 years old. The national average is of 100 surgeries per year, according to the Ministry of Health of Brazil. [49]
There were about 200 homicides of transgender individuals in Brazil in 2017, according to the Brazilian National Transgender Association. [50] Additionally, Brazil made up 40% of all murders of transgender individuals since 2008, according to Transgender Europe. [50] More recently, the number of transgender women murdered in Brazil went up 45% in 2020. [51]
São Paulo city council member Erika Hilton, the first transgender woman to be elected to the city council, received death threats and, as a result, had to change her habits for safety reasons. [51]
The legal status of transgender people varies greatly around the world. Some countries have enacted laws protecting the rights of transgender individuals, but others have criminalized their gender identity or expression. In many cases, transgender individuals face discrimination in employment, housing, healthcare, and other areas of life.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Brazil since 16 May 2013 in accordance with a decision from the National Justice Council, ordering notaries of every state to license and perform same-sex marriages. Brazil became the second country in South America to legalize same-sex marriage nationwide, after Argentina, and the twelfth worldwide to do so.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights in Brazil rank among the highest in the world. Same-sex couples in Brazil have enjoyed the same rights guaranteed to heterosexual ones since 16 May 2013, including marriage and adoption. On June 13, 2019, the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity is a crime akin to racism.
Same-sex marriage in Alagoas has been legal since 7 December 2011. Alagoas was the first Brazilian state to legalize same-sex marriage. Civil unions have also been available since 2011.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil enjoy many of the same legal protections available to non-LGBT people. Homosexuality is legal in the state.
Same-sex marriage in Santa Catarina has been legal since April 29, 2013. Santa Catarina was one of the twelve Brazilian states to have opened marriage to same-sex couples before its nationwide legalisation in May 2013. Civil unions have also been available since 2011 in accordance with a ruling from the Supreme Federal Court.
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Transgender and travesti rights in Argentina have been lauded by many as some of the world's most progressive. The country "has one of the world's most comprehensive transgender rights laws". The Gender Identity Law, passed in 2012, made Argentina the "only country that allows people to change their gender identities without facing barriers such as hormone therapy, surgery or psychiatric diagnosis that labels them as having an abnormality". In 2015, the World Health Organization cited Argentina as an exemplary country for providing transgender rights. Leading transgender activists include Lohana Berkins, Diana Sacayán, Mariela Muñoz, María Belén Correa, Marlene Wayar, Claudia Pía Baudracco, Susy Shock and Lara Bertolini.
Events in the year 2020 in Brazil.
João W. Nery, was a Brazilian writer, psychologist, and LGBT activist. He was the first transgender man to have undergone sex-change surgery in Brazil; Dr. Roberto Farina performed the surgery in 1977.
Gender self-identification or gender self-determination is the concept that a person's legal sex or gender is determined by their gender identity without any medical requirements, such as via statutory declaration.
Gender-neutral language in Portuguese is a recent strand of demands for greater gender equality and social inclusion between men, women and non-binary individuals. It can be divided into inclusive or non-sexist language, and non-binary or neuter language or neolanguage. Inclusive language aims to use existing words to include all genders, while neuter language uses new or modified words to accomplish this.
Linda Brasil Azevedo Santos is a teacher, LGBT rights activist, and politician who became the first trans woman elected to a parliamentary position in the state of Sergipe, Brazil. She was elected in 2020 as a member of the Socialism and Liberty Party.
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The legal status of gender-affirming surgery and gender-affirming hormone therapy varies by jurisdiction, often interacting with other facets of the legal status of transgender people. Key considerations include whether people are allowed to get such surgeries, at what ages they are allowed to if so, and whether surgeries are required in order for a gender transition to be legally recognized. As of 2007, the countries that perform the greatest number of gender-affirming surgeries are Thailand and Iran.
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Transgender history in Brazil comprises the history of transgender people in Brazil and their struggles and organization from the pre-colonial period to the modern day. Before Brazil's colonization, indigenous peoples respected various transmasculine and transfeminine third genders; colonization included public executions of trans people and the systematic imposition of the Western gender binary. In the late 1800s, there were repeated arrests of black travestis and occasional sensationalized news reports of travestis. By the 1920s there were popular drag queens and in the 1950s travestis became popular stars in the theater and revue shows. From the 1960s onward, LGBT periodicals publicly discussed the issues facing travestis and transsexuals.
Ana Faria Fainguelernt, better known by the stage name Ana Frango Elétrico, is a Brazilian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, producer, poet, and visual artist.
ADPF 787 was a case of the Supreme Court of Brazil concerning ease of access of transgender people to public healthcare in Brazil, provided by the Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). The case's rapporteur, minister Gilmar Mendes, cast the initial vote asserting the right of any person, regardless of gender, to access healthcare they require, and the Court unanimously agreed.
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