Brazil: Left-wing radical party files criminal complaint against conservative congressman for alleged transphobia

In a new episode of the comic-tragic theater stage that the Brazilian Congress is increasingly threatening to degenerate into, the far-left PSOL party filed a criminal notice with the Supreme Court (STF) on Wednesday (8) against federal congressman Nikolas Ferreira (PL, right), the most voted parliamentarian of the whole country, after he spoke in the plenary on Women’s Day.

Wearing a wig, the congressman from the Liberal Party (PL) of Minas Gerais (MG) said, “women are losing space to men who feel like women”.

For the PSOL, the statements constitute the crime of transphobia.

“To give you an idea of the danger of all this, they are trying to impose a reality that is not reality. Either you agree with what they are saying or, otherwise, you are a transphobe, a homophobe, and a prejudiced person,” Ferreira said in another part of his speech.

During his speech, the parliamentarian also opined that “women owe nothing to feminism”.

In the lawsuit, the PSOL asks the Supreme Court to accept the criminal complaint, to proceed with the necessary steps for Nikolas Ferreira to be investigated, and, if it is proven that there was a crime, asks that the congressman be denounced for “inducing and inciting discrimination and prejudice against transgender people and transvestites.

Transphobia was equated to the crime of racism by the STF in 2019 and is now treated as a heinous crime.

LIRA’S REQUEST FOR CASSATION AND CRITICISM

After Nikolas Ferreira‘s speech, federal representatives from PSOL, PDT, and PSB also requested to revoke the mandate of the parliamentarian from Minas Gerais for alleged transphobia.

The representation filed asks the president of the House, Arthur Lira (PP-AL), that a disciplinary process is opened in the Ethics Council in the House and that Ferreira is punished at the end of the analysis.

In the group’s evaluation, the representative broke the parliamentary decorum.

On Twitter, President Arthur Lira (PP-AL) criticized Ferreira’s attitude and wrote:

“The Plenary of the Chamber is not a stage for exhibitionism and much less prejudiced speeches. I will not admit disrespect against anyone. To all those who felt offended and offended my solidarity”.

Also, on Wednesday, the LGBTI+ National Alliance and the Brazilian Association of Homotransfetive Families triggered the STF through a criminal complaint against Nikolas Ferreira.

The entities ask the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGR) to analyze the case and file an indictment for the crime of transphobia.

In the early hours of this Thursday (9), the parliamentarian posted on Twitter, stating there was no crime in his statements.

“I defended the right of women not to lose their space in sports to trans – since the biological difference – and not to have a man in the women’s bathroom.”

“There is no transphobia in my speech. I elucidated the example with a (shocking) wig. Anything past that is hysteria and narrative.”

With information from Gazeta do Povo