20/10/2023 | Writer: Aslı Alpar
Gonçalves, an environmental human rights defender, told KaosGL.org about the joint struggle in Brazil.
Jesus Gonçalves, making a great effort as an environmental human rights defender with the Pará Society for the Defense of Human Rights (SDDH), told KaosGL.org about the current situation of the joint struggle in Brazil.
You are both a trans activist and a forest defender. What do you think these two struggles have in common?
What they have in common is that they are both rights-based struggles and they are life-threatening for activists. Brazil is the country with the highest number of murders of transgender people in the world, and the country with the highest number of murders of environmental human rights defenders, so working on both issues means being exposed to multiple threats and violence. However, this cannot be an obstacle to the continuation of our struggle in defense of LGBTI+ rights, the forest and the human.
What has changed since the last elections when you had a trans woman MP?
Representativeness. We have had allies in the past as well; they have spoken out about our suffering and our rights, but not in such a strong way. Erica (Hilton) knows what we're experiencing since she is one of us and she has been also suffering. So it’s heartening to see her in this sexist and biased space, standing up to those who want to kill us. My hope is that the people who voted for and elected her will continue to elect her for future terms and that trans people can be elected to other federal offices.
Translation: Selma Koçak
Tags: life
