Originally appeared in Transgender Tapestry #99, Fall 2002.

We present these two pieces as originally written, to preserve the flavor of the author?s translation from Portuguese? Ed.


I n the beginning of this century and also millennium lots of moments and minorities had done their retrospective about win and lost along their existence. And following their tendency of verifying and reconstruction of their existential journey transsexual people from all over Brazil participate intensively trying to register in the history the evolution of the Brazilian transsexuality.
In Brazil of the decades 60s, 70s, and 80s, transsexual would only be reported occasionally because of some isolated cases that, therefore, would be extremely important to the Brazilian transsexual figure. In 1969 the whole nation got to know about the Tran Brazilian transsexual woman who decided to do this kind of surgery. Few years later (1971) it?d be Valdirene Nogueira?s turn to become the first transsexual woman to do the surgery in Brazil. Both Jacqueline and Valdirene come into Brazilian transsexual history being the great pioneers. But in the beginning of the 80s it would appear the great transsexual phenomenon. Separating eras: Roberta Close. Awaking curiosity in the whole feminine. Transsexual started to be talked, observed and studied in the universities, companies and intellectual discussions on the streets. The whole country started to know the existence of hundreds of people like Roberta.

Even so, there wasn?t any group yet that was defending the rights of transsexual people or the understanding of the society about the transsexual issues. That was a time of isolation and individualism to everyone who had this transsexual syndrome.

It was only in January of 1995 that after they?ve participated of Oitavo Encontro de Gays e Lesbicas (8th Lesbians and Gays Encounter) in Curitiba. Three transsexual women made a group named ?Grupo Brasileiro de Transexuais? (Brazilian Transsexual Group). They were Astrid Bodstein, Mariana Fredrick, and Roberta Levy. Immediately, the new group had the very important support of the gays, lesbians, and travesties from all over Brazil. The following year (1996) Toni Augusto, a young transsexual boy, tried to create a ?SOS Transsexual? in S?o Paulo. Unfortunately this was not a well succeed try.

One year later occurred the great ?historic act? to the Brazilian transsexual community: on September the 9th of 1997, the Federal Medicine Council approved the legality of the realization of the transgenital surgery in public and university hospitals. Twenty-five days after that the justice authorized the University Hospital of Campinas to do the first surgery in a transsexual from that city. The intervention happened in the next year (April 8th of 1998).

Medical teams were organized to treat this kind of transsexual issues and surgeries were done in other cities like S?o Jos? do Rio Preto, S?o Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Porto Alegre, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, and Brasilia.

These were good and new time for the Brazilian transsexual community. Therefore, something of extreme importance was missing: in 1995, the actual Federal Deputy Jose Coimbra showed to the National Congress the law projected 70 B, which would turn legal the transgenital surgery and extend the right to change the ID. This project was approved in all commissions of the Congress. Now-a-days, there is a hold line to go to the plenary assembly to be voted.

Meanwhile, the Brazilian transsexual community was acting actively for its rights conquests. In November of 1998, it took place in Rio de Janeiro, the first encounter of transsexuals of many states: Mato Grosso, Para, Santa Catarino, S?o Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Rio Grande de Sul. As result of this encounter it was decided to union of transsexual people and group creating an ONG named Transgender Brazil, managed by engineer and philosopher Marta C. Freitas.

The new institution, founded in January of 1999, counts with the support of important names of the Brazilian transsexual community like: Barbara Graner, Amanda Wosniack, Maite Scheider, Marcia Lopes, Nancy Brantes, Silvia Tramont, Bhrenda Santuniono, among others. It receives also the congratulations and support of Federal Medicine Council, doctors, attorneys, psychologists, judges, politicians, and religious. They were the wind of conquest. During this whole period in many places of Brazil human and well-developed judges authorized transsexual people who had their surgery done to correct their ID. Among them famous Yeda Brown, known in Spanish as ?a ultima mua de Dali? (The last goodness of Dali).

Apart of all of it in the decades of 90s it was published a big amount of books about the transsexual issue. Great names from many areas produced excellent facts that collaborated a lot for make clearer the transsexual thematic. The judges Tereza Rodrigues Viera and Elimar Szaniawski, psychotherapist Ronaldo Pamplona da Costa, and the psychologist Gerald Ramsey, among others, are always supporting the Brazilian transsexual cause.

In this literary context, it?s worthy so say about two very important books to the transsexual existence, Meu Sexo Real (My Real Sex) by Martha C. Freitas and Transsexualidade: O corpo en mutacao (Transsexual: Body in mutation) by Professor Eduardo Souza Couto. The first book because your scientific context about original causes of transsexual and second because of its information about lots of different point of view of this transsexual issue.

In October of 1999 an important TV station (Rede Viva) bellows to Catholic Church made a debate about transsexual. Dr. Jalma Jurado (great specialist in transgenital surgery technique), Martha C. Freitas, and Father Haraldo Rahn participated. That was a remarkable meeting for all of us. But even with this big amount of conquests there is still lots of things to be done for the Brazilian transsexual community. Without any doubt, all of these pictures make us stronger and encourage us to keep us going on fighting for full conquest of our citizenship. The Brazilian transsexual community is each time more certain that somebody who is not fighting for its rights doesn?t deserve them at all... We?ll always fight with courage, determination, personality, and love in our heart.

Astrid Bodstein is Historian, President of the Brazilian Transsexual Group, and Coordinator of Transgender Brazil. She can be reached at Caixa Postal 1097, Cuib? (MT), 78005-970, BRASIL.