RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Unprecedented research in Latin America showed that 2% of the Brazilian population is transgender or non-binary. The study was developed by the Botucatu Medical School of the São Paulo State University (Unesp).
Six thousand people were interviewed in 129 cities in all regions of the country. In absolute numbers, their population is 3 million individuals.
According to the project participants, the results show the urgency of health policies aimed at this public. “A person born a woman but who today identifies with the male gender, a trans man, will need a gynecological consultation,” said Doctor and Professor Maria Cristina Pereira Lima, author of the report.
Dr. Pereira Lima recalls that, worldwide, the life expectancy of trans people is lower. “It is necessary to train these gynecologists, train the doctors, nurses, physical therapists, in short, all professionals to be able to assist this person in their health needs. If we don’t do this, this man will avoid health services because he will feel harassed, and then the mortality rate will increase a lot,” she said.
The results show that people identified as transgender represented 0.69% and non-binary people, 1.19% of the total population. The term transgender describes “people who identify with a gender incongruous or different from the one they were assigned at birth,” as explained by Unesp.
The term non-binary, on the other hand, refers to individuals who feel that their gender identity is outside of or in between the identities of men and women.
According to Pereira Lima, the proportion found is similar to other countries with population studies in this sense, such as the United States and England. The research sought international references to arrive at the calculation of 6,000 people who should be interviewed.
“We used the sampling resources that Datafolha Institute works with so that this sample would be representative of the country’s population,” explained the researcher.
The data analysis showed that the number of transgender and non-binary individuals obeyed the same proportion of the population of each region of the country. The socio-demographic data also showed no significant difference between the data collected in state capitals and the cities in the interior.
“We didn’t imagine that it would appear in the same proportion. This means that it is necessary to develop training actions for health professionals in all areas, all over the country,” she said.
Although the study was done in the medical field, Pereira Lima pointed out that the data found is essential for several scientific areas. “Other research with an anthropological or sociological approach is necessary to deepen the understanding of how we can have a more inclusive society that values people’s potential, regardless of whether they are transgender or cisgender.”
According to the professor, public policies can and should be developed. “Next year is an election year, and we must forward to some actors, parliamentarians so that they get involved with this issue and put it on their campaign agendas,” she said.
The researcher highlighted, among possible measures, affirmative actions for people identified as transgender and health policies that meet the needs of body transformation. “In other countries, we have a lot of data from people who want to transition to another gender and who self-medicate. We have to have public policies aimed at that.”
The National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (Antra) listed the Unified Health System (SUS) services that provide this service.
For Pereira Lima, the more people talk about the reality of trans and non-binary people, the more we will be able to transform the world into an inclusive world, where people feel welcome and have a place.