A young Brazilian woman was facing twenty-five years in prison for “social racism” after “misgendering a transgender politician” on social media has been granted refugee status in an undisclosed European nation.
According to a report from Anna Slatz at Reduxx News, a male “trans” politician won election to São Paulo’s municipal government by a “landslide” in 2020. The “international media” called the result of this race a “symbolic triumph” for queers, as the male politician, “Erika Hilton,” made the list for “top 10 most-voted for candidates in all of Brazil” as the “only woman” among men. (Again, Hilton is a man.)
When feminist Isabella Cêpa heard the news, she was “disappointed,” and shared her sentiments online. Per Slatz:
‘At the time I didn’t even know who this person was. I just saw a headline on an Instagram page celebrating that ‘the most voted woman in São Paulo is a transwoman,’’ Cêpa told Reduxx during a 2022 interview, recounting how her ordeal began. ‘Then, I shared a video with my followers saying I was disappointed to hear that the most voted-for woman in São Paulo – later found out that it was in the entire country – was a man.’
Hilton reportedly filed a complaint against Cêpa, and in 2022, Cêpa learned that she was in legal trouble, though the charges weren’t immediately communicated to her; when they were, she was facing “five counts of ‘social racism’” Slatz explains the situation here:
The charge stems from a 2019 decision by Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court, which ruled that discrimination against ‘LGBTQ Community’ constituted a penal offense, and fell under existing race-based protections as a form of ‘racism.’
Now, how gayness/queerness is a race is beyond me, but like I noted above, those five counts of “social racism” came with almost three decades in jail. For context, the prison sentence that Cêpa was facing is lengthier than what most child rapists in Brazil receive upon conviction: non-violent sex with a child under 14 will get you 6–10 years, violent sex comes with a penalty of 8–12 years, and if the child dies while you rape him or her? 12–30 years. In fact, you can murder someone, and get around half, or equal the punishment that Cêpa was fixing to receive. (Murder comes with a prison sentence between 12 and 30 years.)
When the justice system becomes so unjust, what legitimacy does it have anymore?
Despite all Europe’s (very serious) flaws, free speech didn’t die today. Sure, free speech is dead in Brazil, but that’s what happens when communists take over, and you have a Supreme Court that can issue arrests, and be the jury, judge, and executioner.
Image generated by AI.