Check out a reflection by Ashley Cleary '19 on our last field excursions in Salvador da Bahia!
Salvador has continued to be an immersive and beautiful look at the politics of the LGBT community in Brazil. On May 4th, our day of activism education included visits to Grupo de Apoio à Prevenção à AIDS (GAPA), an organization dedicated to HIV and AIDS prevention located in Pelourinho, and a visit to the Centro de Promoção e Defesa dos Direitos LGBT da Bahia (Casarão), a new center for travestis and members of the LGBT community in Bahia, along with a discussion lead by prominent travesti activists Keila Simpson and Symmy Larrat. GAPA and Casarão offered a sobering of the activists fighting for the LGBT community in position to the ravage violence that plagues Brazil, particularly the state of Bahia.
Our time at GAPA painted a humanized picture of the HIV/AIDS crisis in Bahia. While HIV/AIDS has become much less of an epidemic in the United States and Europe during the twenty first century, it remains an incredibly prevalent and unforgiving problem in Brazil, particularly in Bahia. The state of Bahia is strongly connected to the African slave trade, and while beautiful roots of the African culture still exist, the marginalization of non-white people, poverty and violence against the LGBT community still run rampant. At GAPA, we met with Rosa Marinho, who has been with the organization for over 30 years and provided us a detailed and personal look at the history of the work they have done. During its formation in the early 1980s, GAPA partnered with the Grupo Gay da Bahia (GGB) to work on the preventive efforts of HIV/AIDS which had run a devastating course through Bahia, particular the LGBT community. In 1996, GAPA launched its first major project where it trained “multipliers” to spread information to within the LGBT community, including popular hangout spots (saunas, movie theaters, cruising areas), that addressed HIV prevention through condom use, knowledge and violence defense. The highly stigmatized nature of the disease and the labeling of it by media as a “gay illness” led, and still leads, many people to not seek diagnoses or treatments.
We were welcomed by Rosa Marinho (1st from left), a longtime activist and health professional with GAPA
HIV/AIDS still remains an overwhelming problem in Bahia. According to GAPA, at any given time, half the beds in a disease unit of the hospital are filled with AIDS patients. Many people do not seek help until they are in the late stages of AIDS, at death's door when not much can be done. Stigmatization, lack of knowledge and violence against the LGBT community all contribute to this problem in Bahia, Brazil, and the world as a whole. GAPA continues to fight for access to education and prevention even amongst adverse social and political conditions.
The opportunity to be in such a historic place that is doing so much to change the course of a disease that has taken way too many was so powerful. Despite the organizations tight resources, they welcomed us in with their time and insisted we stay for a full offering of guava juice and fruit, a testimony to their incredibly warm nature.
GAPA from the streets of downtown Pelourinho
An HIV/AIDS poster on display in GAPA: zero discrimination
Our afternoon excursion took us by foot through Pelourinho to the Centro de Promoção e Defesa dos Direitos LGBT da Bahia, a brand new, first of its kind, government contracted center for the LGBT, particular the travesti and transexual communities, that will serve as a multi-functional space. World renowned travesti activist Keila Simpson met us on the street and lead us to the massive space that sits at the end on a relatively dangerous, but highly important, street in the Historic Center. The house itself is incredibly striking - a massive, three story open space, with many rooms for activities, health treatment and organizing. The space also has very significant historic value, as it served as a place that travestis would run to after being brutalized by the police in the 80s and 90s. It was a historic safe house and will now serve as so in a formal and highly organized capacity.
Our visit started with a group discussion led by Keila Simpson (middle left) and Symmy Larrat (middle right).
The Centro de Promoção e Defesa dos Direitos LGBT da Bahia is unprecedented in many ways. One of the most impactful is the fact that it is run by two travesti women, Keila Simpson and Symmy Larrat. In Brazil, travesti identity signifies highly stigmatized and vulnerable trans women who historically constructed female bodies through silicone injections and made a living through sex work - as separate section of the trans community and have different rights and needs than that of their transexual counterparts. During our prep for the course, we read Travesti, a dated book by anthropologist Don Kulick that explores the lives of travestis and centers around Keila Simpson (it is essentially her book). It was incredible to get to sit down and speak to Keila as she is one of the most prominent trans activists in the world, and has done work with the UN, ILGA, and many other national and international projects. The women talked about the personal journeys as travestis, from working on the streets to activism to working in the government. Keila Simpson is currently President of ANTRA (The National Association of Travestis and Transexuals) and Symmy is currently president of the ABLGT (Brazilian Association for LGBT Rights). Keila and Symmy both emphasized that, notwithstanding state support for the large staff and space, it is their project. (When we were waiting to board our flight to Rio we saw both Keila and Symmy boarding a flight to Brasilia, the nation's capital, to do advocacy work. We were so excited to see them. These women are always working!)
We were given a tour of the facility and introduced to the many functions that it will serve. The dual goals of the center are to “protect and promote,” both giving protection to the incredibly vulnerable LGBT community and serving as a space to enrich culture and hold events. There will be an entire floor dedicated to helping victims of violence, including psychological counseling, social workers and legal support.
Symmy Larrat (on the right) leads us on a tour of the Casarão. Symmy Larrat heads the defense actions (preventing and addressing LGBT violence) at the Casarão.
Keila Simpson (left), Symmy Larrat (center), and Prof. Longaker (right) share a laugh during our talk.
s33 students shoot a traditional pose with the LGBT flag!
A poster from ENTLAIDS 1995 that says "Citizenship Doesn't Have Correct Clothes." (Longaker)
While we were there, there was an older woman who sat to the side during our meeting. We later found out that she was a 71 year old trans woman who, like so many, used to be chased and brutalized by the police. The police would cut her hair off and pour hot tar on her bald scalp, an action that attempted to strip her of, and invalidate, her feminine gender identity. Stories like this are so common and way too often condoned by the community and police themselves. There are rare spaces of safety for this community, a community that struggles every second of every day just to exist. The Centro de Promoção e Defesa dos Direitos LGBT da Bahia (Casarão) is a huge step to resolving a huge problem. The scope of the violence and suffering that the LGB, travesti and transexual communities face is incomprehensible. Our trip has given us a small look into the lives of these people and shed light on how brutal it is to live in the body that you know to be most true.
- Ashley Cleary '19