Lea T Makes Some Olympic Trans History

We don't know definitively is we have trans folks competing at the Rio Olympics even though trans people have been eligible to do so since 2004, and with the start of these Games, can do so without the requirement of genital surgery.

While we're still trying to confirm the rumor that two trans feminine athletes were considered for inclusion on the British Olympic team who have repeatedly represented their country on the international sporting stage, we do know for a fact that trans inclusion happened during the opening ceremony for the Rio Games on August 5.

During the Parade of Nations portion of the Opening Ceremonies, each of the national athletic delegations as they marched into the stadium was led by a cyclist that powered a rotating national name placard in Portuguese and English mounted on the cycle painted in the gold, green and blue colors of the Brazilian flag.

And some trans history transpired as you did so.  Brazilian supermodel Leandra Medeiros Cerezo, was the person on the cycle that led the host nation Brazil into Maracana Stadium.

If you're scratching your head and saying, "Who's that?", maybe you'll recognize who this 35 year old international supermodel and face of Redken cosmetics is when I say the name Lea T.

In addition to being a trailblazing presence in the fashion world, she also has a connection to the sporting world via her father, the legendary Brazilian soccer player Toninho Cerezo.

She is the first out trans person to do so in an Olympic ceremony, and she was definitely pleased to have had a role in the Olympic opening ceremony being hosted by her country

"We are all human beings and part of society.  My role in the ceremony will help send that message" she said.  "At this time in which Rio de Janeiro and Brazil are being presented to the world, it's essential that diversity is present. Brazil is a vast country, and all of its diversity should be represented in this event."

"Like any other transsexual I raise a flag," she continued. "I'm talking about transsexuality because it is part of my history, but I'm just another member of the community.  I know I have the privilege that the media listens to me, but the daily struggle of transexuals is equally important for LGBT people."

She's not kidding about that, since my Brazilian trans sisters have been catching hell because of the murderous trans hate on steroids aimed at them.    Brazilian trans women have for the last five years made up far too many of the names we read during TDOR ceremonies every November 20 around the world, and that needs to stop

And this Lea T Olympic moment shouldn't be dismissed, but celebrated.

Cnngrats to Lea T for being a historic part of this Olympic opening ceremony, and I hope that the next time I get to talk about a trans person making history on the Olympic stage is because they have made their national team and are competing for gold, silver or bronze medals  

Rio Olympics Start Today!

It's been four years in the making, but ready or not, the games of the XXXI Olympiad will kick off with their opening ceremonies at the legendary Maracana Stadium tonight in Rio.

Enough questions about whether the venues are ready or the other non competition related issues in the host country, it's time to watch all the competition play out until the closing ceremonies happen August 21, the Olympic flame is extinguished, the flag is lowered, and the hosting duties for the Summer Games move on to Tokyo in 2020.

For those of us in the Western Hemisphere, much of the action will be televised live since Rio is one hour ahead of the US Eastern Time Zone.

This will be an Olympics of firsts.   The first held in a South American country.   The first held in a Portuguese speaking country.  The first in which intersex athletes will be allowed to compete, and since we are south of the Equator and in the Southern Hemisphere, the first to be held entirely in a country's winter season.  

The competition in men's and women's soccer has already kicked off, with group matches in the women's competition starting on August 3 and the men's matches starting yesterday at several venues across Brazil..

So looking forward to seeing all the drama of the Olympics play out.   What favored athletes and teams will live up to pre-Olympic expectations?   Which ones will falter and fall short of Olympic gold and how will it happen?  And what athlete that was unheralded before the opening ceremonies rise and put together the performances of a lifetime to become an Olympic champion?

One Month To Rio!

We are one month away from the start of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad starting in Rio de Janeiro  August 5 and watching the Olympics is must see TV for me as a unabashed sports fan.

This one is full of firsts.  It will be the first held in a Portuguese speaking country, the first on the South American continent, and since this is being held in the Southern Hemisphere, the first Sumer Games completely in a country's winter season.   It's also the first Games happening during the IOC presidency of Thomas Bach.

The torch relay has been going on across Brazil since May 3 and will visit 323 cities before arriving in the Rio area to light the cauldron at Maracana Stadium.  

Athletes around the world are undergoing qualifying for the various Olympic sports, and the Rio Olympic organizers are expecting a record 10,500 to participate.    Hopefully we will have a transgender athlete taking part in the Games, but it looks like that milestone may have to wait until the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeong Chang or 2020 in Tokyo.

At least much of the competition for those of us in the States and the rest of the Americas will be broadcast live.

One thing I am looking forward to is not only seeing the opening ceremony, but what creative way will the torch be lit.  Also looking forward to seeing who will be the person or persons given the honor of lighting the Rio Olympic cauldron.

August 5 will be here before we know it.

The 2016 USA Men's Olympic Basketball Team Is...

Going to be an interesting Team USA men's bunch to watch with no LeBron James, no James Harden, no Russell Westbrook, no Anthony Davis, no Blake Griffin, no Kawhi Leonard and no Stephon Curry on the squad due to injuries or declining to play.

But fortunately for us the USA basketball talent pool is so deep it may not matter.  They'll still have Mike Krzyzewski on the sidelines calling the plays as they seek the Olympic medal threepeat.

The 2016 Olympic squad was recently unveiled that we'll be cheering when they start play August 6 are Jimmy Butler, Kevin Durant, DeAndre Jordan, Kyle Lowry,  Harrison Barnes, DeMar DeRozan, Kyrie Irving, Klay Thompson, DeMarcus Cousins, Paul George, Draymond Green, and Carmelo Anthony, who'll be the oldest player on the squad at the ripe old age of 32.

This team may be better and more versatile than it looks, and that matters in FIBA ball.  There are two 2012 Olympians in Anthony and Durant are on this squad along with five players from the 2014 FIBA World Championship Squad. Happy to see Paul George on the team because he suffered that gruesome leg injury while trying to make the 2014 FIBA World Cup team


The assistant coaches backing up Coach K are Jim Boeheim, Tom Thibodeau and Monty Williams and will warm up for Olympic competition with a five game US tour that starts July 22 in Las Vegas against 2004 Olympic champ Argentina.  

They'll play back to back games vs. China in Los Angeles on July 24 and in Oakland on July 26, against Venezuela in Chicago on July 29 before playing their final tune up game here in Houston vs. Nigeria on August 1.    

When the Olympic tournament kicks off, they will be in Group A for pool play against Venezuela, China, Australia and the number 1 and number 2 teams from the upcoming FIBA Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament July 4-10 in Italy, the Philippines and Serbia,

Team USA will begin Olympic pool play on August 6 against China, then play Venezuela on August 8, Australia on August 10, the OQT 2 on August 12 and finish Group A play on August 14 with OQT 1

The knockout round will start on August 17-19, with the Gold medal Game on August 21.

Here's hoping that when that game tips off at 1:45 PM CDT the USA is one of the teams in it and not in the Bronze medal game or shockingly sitting on the sidelines..   

Hey NBC, Will You Interview A Trans Brazilian During The Games?

When the Olympics kick off in Rio this August, we will see during the broadcast coverage in addition to seeing all the pageantry of the opening ceremonies,  the competition,  and the shots of the natural beauty of Brazil in and around the Rio area over the period of the XXXI Olympic Games from August 5-22.

There are also moments during the NBC coverage when they aren't updating the national medal counts, will take some time to address the news making issues that cropped up either during the runup to the Games or during the Olympiad itself.

And they will have a few non Olympic news stories to choose from.  From the Zika virus outbreak to the contentious attempt to impeach Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff to wondering whether the Olympic venues would be ready on time, the NBC media team will have a lot to talk about that's non Rio Olympic competition related during the breaks between the competitions they wish to televise during their upcoming prime time broadcasts..

I also hope that one of the issues that will get discussed in a time in which we trans people are getting heightened attention is the off the charts violence aimed at my Brazilian trans sisters.  

While we are justifiably concerned about the 11 trans women we've lost this year, our Brazilian sisters look at our trans murder rate in the US with envy as they are sadly the runaway leaders when it comes to the near-genocidal slaughter of our trans siblings.

The anti-trans hate equation is in full effect in Brazil no thanks to a lethal cocktail of anti-trans hate peddled by the Roman Catholic Church and fundamentalist Christians, guns, anti-trans discrimination, no trans rights protections at the federal and state level,  and indifference by law enforcement to vigorously prosecute crimes committed against trans people.

Hope the NBC Olympic commentators take the time to discuss that ongoing human rights problem and give it the international visibility and attention it deserves while the entire world's eyes are trained on Brazil for the Olympics.

 

Support The Brazilian #NomeSocialEDireito Campaign

Our Brazilian trans family are fighting to keep a policy alive that allows them to use their social names in dealings with the Brazilian federal government.

The backstory starts with embattled Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff issuing before she left office for an interim president pending the result of her impeachment trial issuing Decree n.8.727 that allows trans folks to use their social  names in federal government situations and settings.

But a Brazilian politician unfortunately is pushing to have the Rousseff issued decree invalidated, and that would cause problems for many of our Brazilian trans cousins.

The attempt to invalidate Decree n.8.727 is instead serving to galvanize the Brazilian trans community in a 'we're fed up and not gonna take it any more' way.  A social media campaign has popped up #NomeSocialEDireito with the goal of keeping the decree in place.

Brazilian trans people and their allies are asked to take photos with the #NomeSocialEDireito hashtag which translates in English to 'My Name Is My Right'.

Here's hoping my Brazilian trans fam is successful in keep Decree n 8.727, and success in doing so leads to more wins in Brazil for our trans family.

100 Days To Rio!

One of my fave sporting events for many reasons is the Olympic Games be it the summer or winter versions of it.   I'm definitely looking forward to the August 5 of the Rio Games this summer.

We are now 100 days from watching the opening ceremonies at Maracana Stadium, and the Olympic flame was lit on April 21 in Greece and is now making its way across Greece enroute to a handoff ceremony schedule to happen today in Athens.  

After the torch is handed off to the Brazilian organizers, it will head to IOC headquarters in Switzerland and the Olympic Museum in Lausanne before heading to Geneva and the UN Office there.

From there it will take flight to Brasilia, Brazil's capital where the torch rally will start on May 3 and hit 300 cities, all 26 Brazilian state capitals and the Brazilian Federal District before it gets to Rio de Janeiro on August 5 for the first ever Olympic Games held on the South American continent.

And can't wait to see who the Brazilians select to light the Olympic cauldron and what creative way they come up with to do so.

Happy Brazilian Trans Day Of Visibility!

Today is the Trans Day of Visibility in Brazil.   Every year since 1994 in that nation January 29 is celebrated by the local trans community as their day to let their fellow Brazilians know that they exist, their humanity is worthy of recognition and respect, and their human rights need to be protected as well.

Brazil also has unfortunately led the world in the deaths of our transsisters, with one as young as age 14 being murdered last year.

Unfortunately in 2016 they have gotten off to another horrific start in that category with 48 trans women being murdered in Brazil in this month alone, and it needs to stop.

May this day not only open hearts and minds in Brazil, but lead to substantive change in the way the nation treats its trans citizens.

Brazilian Trans Day Of Visibility Is Tomorrow

Because of Carnaval, a long list of trans models gracing their local and world's fashion runways like Roberta Close, Lea T, Carol Marra and Felipa Tavares, and a national healthcare system that includes trans specific care up to SRS, Brazil is seen by those of us living in the US as a trans friendly country.

But sadly, because of the confluence of a Roman Catholic faith that has been poisoned by anti-trans attitudes injected to it at the Vatican level,  large Pentecostal megachurch pastors in Brazil spreading hatred of trans people combined with the lack of non-discrimination laws at the federal and state levels, the Brazilian trans community has been hit with an off the charts level of anti-trans murders, abuse and discrimination.

Brazil's trans women are still catching hell.  And it needs to stop.

While so far here in the US in 2016 after a record setting year of trans murders for us we haven't had a trans sister killed yet (and I pray it stays that way for a while) that is not the case in Brazil.

In just this month alone, according to Aleika Barros, 40 trans women have been killed in Brazil in January. That is double the number of trans women we lost in the entire US over all of 2015, and unfortunately means that if this pattern continues,by the time we have this year's TDOR, Brazil will once again lead the world in genocidal levels of violence aimed at trans women living there..

According to Aleika, between 2008 and 2014, 604 Brazilian trans women have been murdered, and sadly, they are on their way to another murderous year.  Our trans Brazilian sisters are tired of it, and so am I.

Tomorrow is the Trans Day of Visibility in Brazil, which has been celebrated there on this January 29 date since 2004.  This is one Brazilian Trans Day of Visibility in which I hope trans Brazilians will not only emphatically point out that they are citizens of their country whose humanity needs to be recognized, but that their human rights need to be protected at the local, state and national level.

And their murders need to end.

I hope and pray their fellow cisgender Brazilians look into their hearts, join with trans Brazilians and resolve to work in tandem with the Brazilian trans community to bring those unacceptable levels of anti-trans murders to zero.

TransGriot Note: Photos are of Brazilan trans woman Aleika Barros

366 Days To Rio

366 days from today will come the day the world's sports fans will be looking forward to except everyone in Chicago.    Yes, Chicago I still feel your pain of having the best bid and being eliminated in the first round of venue voting.   Y'all was robbed by the IOC.

It'll be on this August 5 date next year that the Games of the XXXI Olympiad  will kick off in Rio de Janeiro at Maracana Stadium with what will probably be based on what they showed off during the 2012 London Games closing ceremony, an entertaining opening ceremony.    It will be only the third city in the Southern Hemisphere (Melbourne 1956, Sydney 2000) and the first South American one to host the Olympics.

Will be interested  to see what Brazilian gets tapped for the honor of being the final relay runner that gets to ignite the Olympic flame and how the Rio organizing committee chooses to do so since there have been since 1992 some pretty creative torch lightings.

Looking forward to from August 5-21 watching the various Olympic sports take place with the amazing scenery in the Rio area as a backdrop.

This Olympic Games for US and Canadian television and cable viewers will have many events in prime time network coverage in our time zones  

While we are still a year away from knowing who the pre-Olympic favorites will be in many of the sports and the qualifying will start ramping up soon, USA basketball fans know their FIBA world championship men's and women's teams will go in as gold medal favorites.  The USA men will be trying to accomplish an Olympic threepeat and the USA women will be seeking to collect their sixth straight gold medal.  

Both teams are already qualified, it's just a matter of who ends up on the Olympic squads.selected by men's coach Mike Krzyzewski and women' coach Geno Auriemma and what groups they end up in once FIBA Olympic qualifying is completed.  

And can the FIFA world champion USA women's soccer team not only handle their CONCACAF qualifying business in October, but capture their third straight Olympic gold medal in what is shaping up to be a loaded women's Olympic tourney field with host Brazil, Germany, France and a rapidly improving Colombia as four of the already qualified teams?

We will also have to wait until next August to find out what pre-Olympic favorites falter and what unknown athlete steps up big to claim an unexpected medal.

The clock is tucking toward August 5, 2016 and the opening date of the 2016 Rio Games.

Why Y'all Tripping About This Crucifixion Actor, Brazil?

Brazil is a nation that has some interesting contrasts and contradictions when it comes to its trans citizens.

It has a medical system that coves trans procedures including genital surgery, but doesn't protect their human rights nationally.  You see trans models in publications and on catwalks during Rio Fashion Week, but ordinary trans Brazilian citizens are brutalized and murdered.

To highlight those contradictions, trans actress Viviany Beleboni for a gay pride event that happened in Sao Paulo on June 7 asked special effects makeup artist Dennis Dal Ballo to do makeup simulating Jesus Christ's crucifixion wounds before she climbed aboard a parade float with a sign above her head saying 'Enough of Homophobia' .She said the crucifixion wounds symbolized the persecution and suffering Brazilian LGBT people suffer.

While Beleboni and others saw it as a free speech issue, prominent local pastor Marco Feliciano had a problem with it, claiming it 'went too far'

The LGBT groups in Brazil said otherwise, and backed up Beleboni with Facebook pages supporting her parade appearance and her right to do so in light of the fact that Brazilian soccer superstar Neymar and other have appeared in photos showing them as crucified without comment from Brazilian religious leaders

So this round goes to Ms Beleboni and the Brazilian TBLG community.

Brazilian Trans Woman Beaten After Arrest

Trigger Warning  anti-trans violence and police brutality.

It's been way too quiet news wise about our trans sisters in Brazil, and this police brutality story was brought to my attention by my sis Aleika Barros

Model Veronica Bolina, for reasons that are still unclear, was arrested for assaulting a senior citizen in her apartment building April 12 in Sao Paulo.

She was sent to a male prison, which is problematic to begin with, and during a prison transfer allegedly got into a scuffle with a police officer that resulted in half his ear getting bitten off.

The police claimthey didn't do it, but how did Veronica end up with her hands and feet handcuffed, breasts exposed, head shaved and severely beaten to the point she was hospitalized?  

The Brazilian media predictably misgendered Veronica, and focused on her alleged scuffle with the police officer while conveniently neglecting to mention what they may have savagely done to her.

Bolina told Alessandro Melchior, the coordinator for LGBT policies in the city of Sao Paulo, that she was also attacked in the hospital she was sent to recover in from the injuries she received from the police beating.

The horrific pics are circulating on Brazilian social media and has the Brazilian trans and LGB community outraged over what has happened to Veronica.  

They are tweeting #SomosTodasVeronica (We Are All Veronica) in support of her.

Aleika and other Brazilian trans women would agree that what Veronica is accused of doing in the assault is unacceptable, and if she committed the crime, she should do the time for it.

However, my Brazilian sisters would also tell you they draw the line at Veronica being thrown in a male jail cell, exposing her to the possibility of sexual assault, having her head shaved and being savagely beaten. 

Being savagely beaten and humiliated by the police or whoever did it should never be part of a jail sentence, and it points out the  need for human rights laws in Brazil that cover trans women in a country in which 113 trans women were murdered last year,

It's even more imperative trans human rights coverage happens in a Brazil in which faith based hate is directed at the Brazilian trans community on an almost daily basis.

Doing Some Brazilian Trans Musing

One of the things I have wanted to have happen for a while as a child of the African Diaspora is to have better communications links and form lasting friendships with my Brazilian transsisters.

While I'm on my way to making that happen on my Facebook page with a few Brazilian transsisters already there and us having conversations from time to time, I need to do it more frequently.

A high priority for me has been to get to know some of my Black Brazilian trans sisters so I can have a better knowledge base to discuss African Diaspora issues from their perspective and intelligently write about them.

I also want to find out their thoughts of being Black and trans in their home country, and where they see themselves in terms of the trans spotlight inside and outside of Brazil.

While there are some differences between African-American trans folks  and Black Brazilian trans peeps, there are other aspects of having blood connections to the African continent that we are both painfully aware of.

Brazil is the largest nation on the South American continent and the fifth largest on the planet.  It is one of the Top Ten countries that I receive TransGriot readers from despite this being a primarily English language blog. 

I'm motivated toward wanting to do a better job of covering trans human rights developments that happen there.

Yes, we have known since Roberta Close hit the international spotlight that Brazil has some of the most beautiful trans women on the planet.  Some are ripping modeling runways right now. But I want to delve deeper and find out from my Brazilian transsisters and transbrothers what are their issue concerns?  How do they see themselves in comparison to the rest of the trans people who are on the international stage?

Who are their up and coming trans human rights leaders?  Who are the local trans people they think represent them well on the national and international trans human rights stage.

In addition to discussing trans themed history that involves Brazilian trans people, while I want to bring attention to the fact our Brazilian sisters are catching hell and getting eviscerated just like we are in the States, I also want to make sure that I present a balanced portrait of Brazilian trans women to my readers.

I want to tell more stories about Black Brazilian trans women as well.

Thanks to Dora and Aleikasandra for giving me your thoughts and  insights into what is happening trans wise in Brazil.  I hope the subsequent posts that result from what you shared with me do your trans community justice the next time I respectfully attempt to discuss those issues on TransGriot.

And I hope we are blessed to have more long and fascinating chats in the future.

USA 2014 World Cup Watch-Missed Opportunity

Going into the USA's second Group G match in Manaus with FIFA number 3 ranked Portugal, thanks to their thrilling 2-1 win against Ghana, the USA with a win was in the unexpected position by international soccer pundits to clinch a spot into the knockout round.

But Portugal and their all-everythang player Cristiano Ronaldo were pissed off about the 4-0 buttkicking Germany handed them.   Ronaldo was even more pissed off about the criticism he was taking for not producing goals for his nation on his sports biggest stage. 

Portugal was playing for their World Cup lives.and the opening minutes of this match reflected it.  Just a mere five minutes into the match a failed clearance by Geoff Cameron was pounced on by Nani and he buried it into the upper left hand corner of the net over Tim Howard for a 1-0 Portugal lead they took into halftime.

But it wasn't for lack of trying by the USA.  In the 28th minute a Michael Bradley strike skidded agonizingly wide a few feet of the right goalpost.  

In the 55th minute came the USA's best chance to score and even the match.   A fantastic run by Fabian Johnson drew out the Portuguese keeper and Johnson crossed to a trailing Michael Bradley who had the goal and defender Ricardo Costa in front of him.   Costa got just enough of his knee out to deflect the almost sure goal to keep his side in the lead.

Then in the 64th minute came the equalizing laser from distance by Jermaine Jones to knot the score at one all and cause soccer fans across the USA to collectively exhale.



The USA kept attacking and was rewarded in the 81st minute with captain and my fellow Texan Clint Dempsey's go ahead goal off a Graham Zusi cross.   2-1 USA!

All the USA had to do was play keep away for 15 minutes and they were headed out of Arena da Amazonia with a signature win over a Top 5 ranked FIFA squad and a punched ticket to the knockout round. 

The USA successfully did so for 14:30.  Then Ronaldo proved in stoppage time why he gets $40 million to play the beautiful game.   A midfield giveaway turned into a Portuguese counterattack led by Ronaldo, a perfectly crossed ball by him into the box that Silvestre Varela headed past Tim Howard for the goal that salvaged a draw and had Americans going WTF? 




Ronaldo salvaged a tie out of the jaws of World Cup defeat and elimination.  

While the USA got a point out of the disappointing draw and can still advance out of the 'Group of Death' with a win or draw against the FIFA number 2 ranked Germans, they could have made their lives a lot easier tomorrow had they handled their World Cup business in Manaus last Sunday.

Because if they fail to get out of the group, they will be thinking about that missed opportunity and that Varela goal for the next four years. 

We'll see what happens in Recife tomorrow.

USA World Cup 2014 Watch-Revenge!

When the World Cup draw happened a few months ago with the USA ending up in the Group G  'Group of Death' with Germany, Portugal and Ghana, the June 16th game with Ghana was the one the USA pointed to.

Ghana was responsible for eliminating the USA out of the 2006 and 2010 World Cup Finals knockout rounds and payback was on the menu in this 2014 Brazilian edition.

The USA wanted to get off to a fast start in their opening Group.G match played in Natal and they did. 

Clint Dempsey scored 32 seconds into the match with the sixth fastest goal scored in World Cup history to stake the USA to an early 1-0 lead they stubbornly held despite determined Ghanian counterattacks until the 82nd minute.

Andre Ayew received a gorgeous back heel pass that he blasted past USA goalkeeper Tim Howard to tie the game and give USA fans 'there they go again' nightmares of another World Cup loss to Ghana . 

But not on this night.   In the 86th minute sub John Brooks headed in the winning goal off a corner kick and made a little USA World Cup  history by doing so.  He became the first USA sub ever to score a World Cup goal.

The USA still had to navigate the rest of the second half and 5 nerve wracking minutes of extra time to secure their opening Group G win and a vital 3 points in the standings.

And oh yeah, beating Ghana was the most delicious part of it. 

But this win was costly as striker Jozy Altidore left in the first half with a hamstring injury, Matt Besler had a milder version of one in the second half and Clint Dempsey ended up with a broken nose after being kicked in the face.

It only gets tougher for Team USA.  They face a Portugal team in Manaus mauled by Germany 4-0 that will be pissed off, determined to show the world they can play better than they did June 16 and fighting for their World Cup lives.

And if Team USA survives that match, they will close out group play in Recife on June 26 against Germany.  

   

2014 FIFA World Cup Starts Today

I'll have to set aside some time to do so while I'm in Philly, but the 2014 FIFA World Cup finally starts group stage play later this afternoon.

The host Brazilians will be kicking things off (pun intended) in Sao Paulo against Croatia 

The rest of the matches start tomorrow, and Team USA doesn't get to start Group G play until the 16th.   Team USA will face off in Natal against Ghana, who eliminated us in the knockout rounds of the last two World Cups in 2006 and 2010. 

As to how Team USA will fare in a 'Group of Death' that features the FIFA number 2 ranked Germans, FIFA number 3 ranked Portugal and all everythang Cristian Ronaldo and FIFA number 38 ranked USA killer Ghana remains to be seen for our Jurgen Klinsmann coached FIFA number 14 ranked squad. 

It'll be a miracle if we even get out of the group stage.   But if Team USA wants to be taken seriously instead of sneered at as a soccer nation, this is the perfect opportunity for them to prove they can handle their soccer business while the whole world is watching.

Why PLC 122's Passage Was Important In Brazil

Sergio Viula talks about conditions in Brazil in the wake of the failure of PLC 122 to pass.the Brazilian Congress.

TBLG Rights Bill Fails In Brazil

The eyes of the world's TBLG community were turned toward Brazil yesterday as Senator Ana Rita as promised brought PLC 122 to a vote.  

It was a TBLG human rights bill that had been stalled by fundamentalist religious forces for 12 years as increasing number of trans and gay people have died in the country or faced escalating levels of horrific anti-BTLG violence.

It didn't go well.  29 senators voted against it, on 12 in favor and 2 abstained.    The defeat also erased the concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity from a review of Brazil's penal code.  

PLC 122 would have prohibited discrimination or inciting violence on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation and it went down to defeat as evangelical leaders like Silas Malafaia gloated  

“You can swear, we’re hahahaha plc122 [the bill outlawing LGBT discrimination] is dead, hahahha try something else and wait a few years hahahaaha, if God laughs at the wicked, imagine me, hahahaha.”

“Our chances to add the concepts of sexual orientation and gender identity into the penal code are now near impossible,” said Luiz Henrique Coletto, Vice President of the Secular Humanist League of Brazil (LiHS), in a statement to LGBTQ Nation.

“This means that we have no nationwide federal protection against discrimination of, and violence against LGBT people,” he added. “The vote was a clear demonstration of anti-LGBT prejudice in Brazil.”

The Brazilian Forces of Intolerance won this round, but TBLG activists in Brazil, despite the disappointing defeat are continuing the fight and considering other options.

They have been successful in the Brazilian court system, and will go in that direction to obtain the human rights they so desperately need.  With Brazil set to host both the upcoming World Cup this summer and the Olympics in 2016, local activists are calling upon the world to do more to financially support indigenous Brazilian LGBT rights organizations.

They are also calling upon the United States, the European Union, the UN, the OAS and other international human rights actors to pressure President Dilma Rousseff and Brazilian legislators into getting thei nation to live up to the various human rights agreements they have signed.


Said attorney Paulo Roberto, a member of GADvS (Group of Lawyers for Sexual Diversity), to LGBTQ Nation, “Brazil is in violation of international resolutions and statements where it signed a commitment to protect GLBT citizens, both at the level of the United Nations and Organization of American States.”

“Furthermore,” he added, “If this country is not safe for our own people considering anti-gay violence, how can it be safe for people coming for the world cup and the Olympics?”

Indeed.  If it's not safe for its TBLG children, sooner or later it won't be safe for you ostensibly cis and straight Brazilians either.

Brazil Miss Trans 2013 Pageant

The second annual Miss Trans 2013 pageant was held m Rio de Janeiro recently.   It had 28 competitors from 11 Brazilian states competing not only for the pageant crown at Rio's Joao Caetano Theater, but an all expense paid trip to Thailand as Brazil's representative for the 2014 edition of the Miss International Queen pageant

It was also offering a chance to go to Thailand and get a paid gender realignment surgery.

But this pageant also has a serious purpose in mind according to its sponsor Majorie Marchi, the president of Astra-Rio, the Rio Association for Transvestites and Transsexuals.    “The competition was an important demonstration for people who traditionally have no voice in society and are still seen as victims or as culprits on the police blotter,” said Marchi “The trans community doesn’t just want the right to food and sustenance. We are about music, entertainment and art.”

The pageant's goals are to increase the visibility of trans people in Brazil, and was also sponsored by the city government of Rio, fashion designer Almir França, a Brazilian plastic surgery clinic and the Kamol Cosmetic Hospital in Thailand.  


The winner of Miss Trans 2013 was 21 year old Raika Ferraz, who is from Sao Paulo and started her transition at 17.   She will represent Brazil at the next Miss International Queen contest in Pattaya next November..

And as for whether she will have the SRS that she won as part of the prize package for winning the title?

She says as of right now, no.  'I don’t need this operation, I already feel like a woman. I have been taking hormone tablets for more than four years now to create my curves and increase my bust size and I am really happy with the results," Ferraz says confidently.

A Brazilian girl like us, Marcela Ohio won the Miss International Queen 2013 title, and in the history of this pageant that started in 2004, no nation has ever had back to back winners of it.  

Will the Brazilians and Raika Ferraz be able to pull that feat off?    We'll see if she can in November.

Brazilian Senator Calling For TBLG Discrimination Bill Vote

As anyone who has attended TDOR's or been paying attention over the last few years can tell you, violence against transwomen in Brazil has alarmingly spiked in the last few years.   In just this year alone there were 292 Brazilians lost to anti-TBLG violence with the vast majority of them being trans women.  

A bill has been proposed in Brazil, PLC 122 to ban discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.  It would also criminalize incitement of violence against TBLG Brazilians and punish violations of those offenses with up to three years in prison. 

However, the evangelical lobby in the country is throwing a nasty cup in the legislative Kool-Aid.   As they do everywhere else around the world when they don't get their way, they are having a hissy fit.   They are threatening to punish legislators who vote YES for passage of PLC 122 and President Dilma Rousseff who is up for re-election for a second term in the Brazilian national elections slated to happen on October 5, 2014.  

According to reports published in LGBTQ Nation, nervous legislators were preparing to cave to the evangelical phobes and shelve the bill until after those elections to appease them.

Never mind the fact that according to Grupo Gay de Bahia, 44% of the worlds' LGBT murders occur in Brazil, and one is committed against a Brazilian BTLG person every 21 hours.   The 292 murders this year were an unacceptable increase over the number committed in 2012, and the 2012 BTLG murder numbers were a 21% increase over the number of anti-TBLG murders that occurred in 2011.  

Senator Ana Rita of the ruling Labor Party plans to defy the government and call the vote for Wednesday despite instructions from President Rousseff and Brazilian Minister of Institutional Relations Ideli Salvatti to delay the vote on the sorely needed anti-TBLG discrimination measure until after the October elections.

Brazilian TBLG people are pushing back against the evangelical wing pressure by organizing a protest in Sao Paulo later today and planning to be in Brasilia for the PLC 122 vote on Wednesday.   

Human rights organizations are also making their voices heard and calling for it to happen, stating that the Brazilian TBLG community has waited a dozen years for their government to be drum majors for justice.

They also pointed out Brazil will be hosting the World Cup this summer and the Summer Olympics in Rio in 2016, and need to do so not only for its LGBT citizens, but visitors coming here to attend those two major international sporting events. 

“The anti-discrimination law will send a powerful message that gays, lesbians, bisexual and trans people in Brazil are fully protected by Brazilian law,” said Andre Banks, Executive Director of All Out to LGBTQ Nation.

It'll not only send that message should PLC 122 pass to TBLG people inside the fifth largest nation on the planet, but around the world as well.

And that law needs to happen.