Conexão G Group in defense of LGBT citizenship of slum dwellers

Promote the rights of Black trans women from the communities of Maré and Alemão in Rio de Janeiro, with the aim of contributing to minimize violations of rights and promote appreciation.

• Creating a virtual campaign on the rights of the LGBTI population with a focus on race/ethnic, transgender and slum issues;
• To train 20 Black trans women as human rights advocates;
• Contribute to the visibility and resistance of Black trans women living in six different slums.

According to the Atlas of Violence 2018 (IPEA / FBSP), 71.5% of people murdered in Brazil in 2016 were Black. In 2017, another cruel record: the country is the one that kills the most trans people in the world (TransGender Europe). The risk of a transvestite, transsexual or transgender person being murdered is 14 times greater than that of a gay CIS man, and the chance of that death being a violent one is nine times greater (RedTransBrasil, 2017). According to the profile of people served by Conexão G Group, and according to the discussions of the First National Seminar on the Assassination of LGBT People in Brazil, there are even more vulnerable groups within the vulnerable: young and poor Black trans women (low education, no income or low income).

Gender identity is a right which is sometimes denied in these territories and the association with racism increases stigma and discrimination. Such violence is aggravated by the neglect of services meant explicitly for this population and by the action of drug trafficking groups that lethally express the transphobic mentality of Brazilian society.

Since its creation, Conexão G acts to ensure and promote citizenship and human rights to the LGBT population who live in slums and other popular areas, especially in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Based in the most complex slum in Rio, Maré, the group was created within an initiative developed in partnership with Promundo called Youth for Gender Equity, which worked on subjects related to this theme in work environments (interference, inequalities, etc.). The organization works with the LGBT population, with innovative and relevant elements to prevent STD/HIV and also promoting human rights.

The LGBT Population Rights Council of the State of Rio de Janeiro
Network of Healthy Communities of the State of Rio de Janeiro
Rede Trans Brasil (Trans Brasil Network)
ABGLT (Brazilian Association of Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transvestites, and Transsexuals)
ABL (Brazilian Articulation of Lesbian)
Youth Forum of Rio de Janeiro