Visibility or advertising campaigns aren’t enough; it’s necessary to normalize the existence of trans people and ensure respect. That’s the perspective of historian, presenter, and communicator Giovanna Heliodoro, known on social media as @transpreta. In an interview with BdF Entrevista on Brasil de Fato Radio, she emphasized the urgency of a deeper discussion about how society views trans people.
“I don’t want anyone to accept me, because acceptance creates distance. No one needs to be accepted by society — they need to be respected,” she states. Heliodoro points out that although she is often praised for her oratory and intelligence, those compliments are still followed with surprise: “Wow, and she’s trans, right?”
“What I notice is that I’ve truly subverted my reality, hacked society, redefined it — but even so, there are still things that will always remind me that I don’t quite belong,” she confides.
The communicator supports dialogue with people who think differently but insists it must be grounded in knowledge. “It’s not about having an opinion just to have one. It has to be informed. Mere opinion doesn’t interest me,” she says. “I also want to talk about being a woman who cries, who laughs, who pays bills. Who dreams of having a daughter. It’s in those spaces of connection and hope that we meet,” she concludes.
“Protect the Dolls”
Giovanna Heliodoro also spoke about the Protect the Dolls movement, which originated in Europe and was adapted in Brazil as “Proteja as Gatas” (“Protect the Girls”). The phrase, which went viral during this year’s LGBT+ Pride Parade, was embraced by Brazilian fashion designers and has become a cry for help from travestis and trans women. But she warns that the conversation must not stop there. “How do we welcome people who don’t specifically identify with the term dolls? […] We’re talking about Latinidades, about the details of Brazil that don’t fit into a European perspective,” she notes.
For the historian, appropriating international symbols is valid, but it must be done critically and through a decolonial lens. And beyond representation, it’s essential to create real opportunities. “‘Protect the girls,’ in a literal translation, is a cry for help — but it’s also a call for opportunities for this population that is so often left behind,” she explains.
Pink money only when it’s convenient
During the conversation, Heliodoro also criticized the market for “using the LGBT+ cause only when it suits them.” According to her, this year brands opted for internal actions rather than public campaigns on social media, showing a retreat in visibility amid the global rise of far-right conservatism.
“This same market that once waved our flags, that claimed how important we were, as long as it translated into pink money [the purchasing power and consumption of the LGBT+ community], into profit, it made sense to them. But when it stops being profitable, or when the whole world is saying not to support these people, the brands automatically pull back,” she laments.
