Mato Grosso Trans Visibility March takes place on May 17th :: Leiagora | Playagora

Josy Thayllor Santos discovered militancy at the same time that she discovered she was trans. In a country like Brazil, which leads the ranking of countries that kill the most trans people, learning to fight for life and rights is a learning that comes along with self-discovery. The years of struggle transformed Josi into president of the Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals of Mato Grosso (Astramt), a position in which he experiences something historic in his life and also in the lives of trans people who have been fighting for recognition for decades: this is the 1st March of Trans Visibility in the history of Mato Grosso, which will take place on May 17th.

The march will be carried out with the support of the Women’s Secretariat of Cuiab and the Women’s Defense Center of the Public Defender’s Office of Mato Grosso, as well as other collectives and institutes that fight for rights for trans people. The gathering for the march will be held at Praça Alencastro, in the Historic Center of Cuiabá. Protesters will go down Rua 13 de Junho to Praa Ipiranga, returning along Prainha to Alencastro again. The agenda of the march this first year will be about access to healthcare for trans people in Mato Grosso.

“I started my activism when I was 13 years old, I tried to find the best for myself to get to know myself, I sought this strengthening with other people in Cuiab and outside the state”, he says. “I started very early, marching is a way of giving visibility in Mato Grosso, which is a very prejudiced state, we want society to take a closer look at the trans population,” she stated.

In addition to Astramt, the march was created by the Brazilian Institute of Transmasculinities (Ibrat), Guerrilha Cuiabana, the National Connection of Transsexual Women and Transvestites of Ax (Conat) and the Hendy Santana collective from the Federal University of Mato Grosso (UFMT). of Women, Elis Prates, the march is the result of work to strengthen public policies in the capital that has been carried out for many years at the Secretariat.

“We want with the march that people observe and say that trans people are people and question what the public authorities are doing,” said Elis. “We are very happy with the organization because it is a way of bringing visibility to a population that is in our society but they don’t even have a voice, from the perspective of saying that these people exist and need health, employment and citizenship”, stated Elis Prates

Julian Tacan, Coordinator of the state center of the Brazilian Institute of Transmasculinities (IBRAT-MT) says that there are currently no health care references for trans and transvestite people in Mato Grosso in operation. Therefore, the theme chosen for the March was “For a Trans-Inclusive SUS. We want to live longer!”. Our Institute has played an essential role in the fight for trans outpatient clinics in the state. He praised the action of the Cuiab Women’s Secretariat, which will emphasize the problems faced by trans people.
“The Women’s Secretariat has always been a partner in the fight for rights, I am happy that the secretariat has committed to its social commitment, which is to be on the side of those who need access policies for Health, Education, Social Assistance and Security”, he stated. “We want everyone to go, trans and transvestite people, but also cisgender people who are allies in this fight and construction for rights.”

For Conatt’s State Coordinator, the march is also an opportunity to show that religions can also embrace trans people. Khauanny Garcia, Mato Grosso State Coordinator of the National Connection of Transsexual Women and Transvestites of Ax (Conatt), praised the initiative.

“Conatt was born because we suffered a lot of discrimination in Ax, we couldn’t wear priestess clothes and we were claiming this space, so the march comes precisely to strengthen this strength between the groups, to show that trans women and trans men need to have their own space,” he said.