Trans activists are up in arms after a deceased Brazilian cross-dresser was buried by his family wearing a shirt and tie and sporting a goatee beard.
Trans activists in the city of Aracaju, the capital of the north-eastern Brazilian state of Sergipe, denounced the fact that ‘Lana’ was buried by his family as a man.
Local councillor and trans woman ‘Linda Brasil’ of the left-wing-to-far-left Socialism and Liberty Party, which commands nine seats in the 513-seat Chamber of Deputies, took to Twitter to express her anger at the occurrence.
In a post dated to Tuesday, 12th October, that has since been ‘liked’ 14,100 times, the councillor wrote: “I’m outraged! I’ve just learned that a transvestite died and that, at the funeral, her family dressed her in a jacket, tie and gave her a pencil moustache with a goatee.
“This is a crime! Just because it was her family that did it, it doesn’t mean it’s legitimate to deliberately practice transphobia. #TransphobiaÉCrime (Transphobia Is A Crime)”
‘Brasil’ added: “It’s because of cases like this that there are so many crimes against children, teenagers, women and LGBTQIA+ people in general. This is not only an act of violence and disrespect against the transvestite herself, but against all trans people.”
She ended the thread by writing: “Enough of this nonsense and these acts of violence against our lives! #VidasTransImportam (Trans Lives Matter)”
Trans woman Jessica Taylor, who runs Transunides, an organisation that distributes basic food baskets to trans people in need, said ‘Lana’ had been abandoned by her family and had suffered from depression.
She wrote: “Lana was disrespected by her family, who even put a moustache on her and buried her in a suit, going against her gender identity.
“Her family did not accept her sexual orientation. I thought it was an act of violence. Only those who are trans know what happened until they manage to assume their identity. Not even at the big send-off, which is death, was she respected. Lana died of sadness.”
