{"id":60558,"date":"2020-07-17T10:03:49","date_gmt":"2020-07-17T13:03:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rioonwatch.org\/?p=60558"},"modified":"2020-07-20T10:02:08","modified_gmt":"2020-07-20T13:02:08","slug":"activism-art-and-solidarity-strengthen-lgbti-pride-in-rios-favelas-during-the-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rioonwatch.org\/?p=60558","title":{"rendered":"Activism, Art, and Solidarity Strengthen LGBTI+ Pride in Rio\u2019s Favelas During the Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

Clique aqui para Portugu\u00eas<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

This is our latest article on Covid-19 as it impacts Rio de Janeiro’s favelas<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Stories marked by successes, survival, struggles, and resistance are experienced by thousands of members of the LGBTI+<\/a> community who live in Rio’s favelas and in urban peripheries across Brazil. During the pandemic, we hear from various LGBTI+ activists and artists on important issues in the journey towards a more tolerant and inclusive society.<\/h5>\n

Violence and Survival<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A reference organization on LGBTI+ issues in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, the Conex\u00e3o G LGBT Citizenship in Favelas Group<\/a> completed 14 years of work in the Complexo da Mar\u00e9<\/a> favelas in March 2020. Its leader Gilmara Cunha, 36, who describes herself as a black trans favela woman, says the group was created to support a community that feels marginalized: \u201cSociety was designed for the middle and upper classes, and public policies are not geared towards the poor. We came up with a pilot project in Mar\u00e9 to transform the area. Now I understand that we were creating a survival strategy, because we understood that the policies would never reach us here and that we needed to keep our population alive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Carol<\/a>This feeling is shared by Carol Fl\u00e1via Esteves, a trans woman born and raised in City of God<\/a>. \u201cI suffered all sorts of violations inside and outside my home. It was a massive struggle to get here, to the age of 43, alive. There were episodes where I had stones thrown at me, beatings, all sorts of LGBTphobia<\/a>, but I made it.\u201d She shares that early on she began mediating conflicts in the favela\u2014or \u201cuntangling the mess,\u201d as she prefers to describe it\u2014with issues related to the LGBTI+ community. After she participated in the documentary Favela Gay<\/em><\/a>, directed by Rodrigo Felha, it all finally sank in. \u201cThe film really opened my mind and helped me meet other people, activists from other favelas. That was when I noticed that I was already an activist, without ever having realized that,\u201d she explains.<\/p>\n

Another consideration shared by interviewees is that even important public policies, such as the criminalization of LGBTphobia in 2019<\/a>, have had a lesser impact in the favelas because these policies fail to take the particularities of these territories into account. \u201cWe had a victory in the Supreme Court with the criminalization of homophobia, but I can guarantee with absolute certainty that this law will not be applicable to favela territories. The aggressor lives three houses down from mine. Where are we going to put this family after reporting them?\u201d asks Cunha. She also stresses the social abyss that the measure exposes and remarked on the use of prison sentences, which could hurt favela residents even more: \u201cMy understanding is that this measure will not apply to society as a whole. The rich, who hold prejudices, will not go to prison. The poor, the black, and the favela population<\/a> will be the ones to keep getting imprisoned. It will be another mass incarceration policy. How can we best think about guaranteeing life for this population in the favelas?\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the latest report<\/a> from the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA), published in June, 89 trans people were murdered in Brazil in the first six months of 2020, an increase of 39% from the same period of the previous year. The lack of consistent data from federal and state governments on violence against the LGBTI+ population<\/a> shows that, in most cases, there is no permanent state policy to address this, but rather policies linked to individual administrations that may cease to exist when new leaders are elected.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Julio Pinheiro Cardia, former coordinator of the Office for the Promotion of LGBT Rights at Brazil’s Ministry of Human Rights and current director of the Bras\u00edlia LGBTS+ Center<\/a>, explains the problem: \u201cEven with the available violence-related data, which is very little, we have no baseline for comparison when we collect the data. They are deaths in relation to what? How many people? How many LGBTIs? We need to have a better idea of the data universe to be able to start working with a clearer picture of our population.\u201d To address part of the problem, the Bras\u00edlia LGBTS+ Center is leading\u00a0a campaign called \u201cI Exist,\u201d which seeks to include sexual orientation and gender identity in the 2021 census.<\/p>\n

Coronavirus in the Favelas\"\"<\/a><\/h3>\n

During the coronavirus pandemic, transvestites and transsexuals who live in favelas are suffering more than usual. Esteves leads the efforts to support them in City of God. \u201cWe know that most of them [transvestites and transsexuals] leave home at night and many are ashamed of exposing themselves during the day, due to the prejudice they might suffer from standing in a line, for example.\u201d For this reason, so that they can receive basic food baskets and hygiene kits, Esteves created an alternative option to receive these supplies at pre-scheduled dates and times, thus avoiding lines and exposure.<\/p>\n

In Complexo da Mar\u00e9, supporters of Conex\u00e3o G are working from home and also making deliveries of basic food baskets. \u201cOther projects have been paused, as there was no way to continue. We are seeking donations, raising funds. The trans population is very vulnerable. They can\u2019t stop working because they pay rent. We don\u2019t even have that, the privilege to stay at home and protect ourselves as people,\u201d reflects Cunha.<\/p>\n

In the state of Rio de Janeiro, the State Secretary of Social Development and Human Rights<\/a>\u00a0continues to provide services during the pandemic at its eight LGBTI+ Citizen Centers<\/a>. They offer shelter as well as social, psychological, and legal assistance to these groups, and have expanded the number of cases taken in. In total, the centers recorded 2,611 services for clients from January to May 2020, while for the same period in 2019 there were 1,283. However, only one of the centers is located in Rio de Janeiro proper, which is insufficient for its over 6 million inhabitants.<\/p>\n

Education and Empowerment<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Heading the Grupo Pantera<\/a> theater group are artists Gabriel Horsth, 23, and Paulo Victor Lino, 25, who have worked in the past as actors, producers, and directors. Both were raised in Nova Holanda<\/a>, one of the favelas in Complexo da Mar\u00e9, and staged the show Quest\u00e3o de Gosto<\/em><\/a> (A Matter of Taste) in partnership with the leisure and cultural center SESC Madureira, which took the show to nine schools. They explore the theme of cyberbullying and gay dating apps. They are now moving on to a second phase in their research to update the show and include other groups from the LGBTI+ community. \u201cWe’ve noticed that we had very little research on the other groups, about how transsexuals, lesbians, and bisexuals use the apps, and so we\u2019re rethinking the show with some new ideas we put together during quarantine,\u201d reveals Lino.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Horsth highlights the importance of exchanges between groups from different communities. \u201cWe\u2019re always trying to establish these links with other favelas. This is important to keep the work alive. When we first put together Quest\u00e3o de Gosto<\/em>, we were in touch with Ponto Chic, a group from Nova Igua\u00e7u<\/a>, which is far from the central area of Rio. This dialogue was crucial for those young people to understand themselves as LGBTIs. Nova Igua\u00e7u is an ultra-Christian municipality, with many churches. You could see there were a lot of issues among that group of young people. This dialogue broke barriers and reinforced our work.\u201d He also explains how they have been working during the pandemic. \u201cThere has been a lot of discussion on what to produce during this quarantine period. With these virtual tools, we\u2019re increasingly able to better connect these narratives, as well as study and work on productions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lino recalls that during the production of the show Quest\u00e3o de Gosto<\/em>, they received threats from students at the schools where they were presenting the show, especially from those who support President Jair Bolsonaro<\/a>. On the other hand, LGBTI+ students were able to see themselves portrayed for the first time in a work of art inside their own school, places which often lack such opportunities for dialogue about gender and sexual orientation. Lino also emphasizes that reality is different for favela residents: \u201cEvery day is about survival\u2014surviving the government, surviving the coronavirus, surviving the state government, both how it serves the favelas<\/a> and how it has been serving them during this pandemic. There is a different reality here in the favela, like a city within another city. It’s so crazy, but I think we\u2019ve tried to find each other and create art to become stronger.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Regarding the LGBTI+ pride commemorative events for June, Esteves says that all events that would have been in-person were cancelled due to the pandemic to avoid crowds. \u201cPeople already live in crowded conditions here, so there\u2019s no way to hold an event like a parade. There were some livestreams and posts on social media to celebrate LGBTI+ pride month.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Complexo da Mar\u00e9, Conex\u00e3o G organizes educational activities throughout the year, creating a space for reflection so that the cisgender and heterosexual residents can understand the reality of the LGBTI+ population, based on the idea that many of them there have shared experiences. \u201cIt\u2019s a chain: the oppressor was at some point oppressed, and the violence is then unconsciously perpetuated. Many black cisgender males are prejudiced against the LGBTI+ population, holding the mentality of white people in a racial hierarchy, except they themselves are also oppressed all the time without realizing it,\u201d argues Cunha.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Successes<\/h3>\n

\u201cThere has been significant improvement in the favelas in terms of prejudice,\u201d says Esteves, from City of God. \u201cThe favela is a mother figure, it embraces people. However much your family casts you out, there will always be some family in the community that will support you. This is the warmth, affection, and love for each other in the favela.\u201d Cunha also highlighted important advances in Complexo da Mar\u00e9: \u201cMy victory is to see the LGBTI+ population on the street carrying out this transformation and this work of helping each other. There\u2019s nothing better. This victory of being able to move around, to have the right to come and go within your own community, is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Horsth sees that many spaces were historically denied to the LGBTI+ population, but believes that joint work with the NGOs and support networks in the communities is a way to combat the prejudice through dialogue. \u201cI think first we have to celebrate the fact that we\u2019re alive, more than anything. And to also be proud of what you are and how you identify. This was an election where we elected the highest number of LGBTI+ representatives. Our LGBTI+ friends in the favelas are getting into universities, which we also need to celebrate. I try to stay positive with the good news and with the changes we are creating,\u201d he concludes.<\/p>\n

\n

Support our efforts to provide strategic assistance to Rio\u2019s favelas during the Covid-19 pandemic, including\u00a0<\/b>RioOnWatch<\/i><\/b>\u2019s tireless, critical and cutting-edge hyperlocal journalism, online community organizing meetings, and direct support to favelas\u00a0by clicking here<\/a><\/b>.<\/b><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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