Historic wins for trans candidates in Brazil vote

RIO DE JANEIRO: Transgender candidates on Monday celebrated a series of historic wins in municipal elections in Brazil, where they were allowed to run for the first time under their chosen names.

"WE WON! BLACK TRANS WOMAN ELECTED TO CITY COUNCIL. First time in history," tweeted Erika Hilton, who won a seat in Sao Paulo, the country’s biggest city, in Sunday’s elections.

Hilton, an activist who ran for the left-wing Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), and another trans candidate, Thammy Miranda, both finished among the top 10 most-voted politicians for the Brazilian economic capital’s 55-seat city council.

Miranda, a trans man and actor who ran for the right-wing Liberal Party, is known among other things for his role in a Father’s Day ad campaign this year for cosmetics companyNatura.

In Belo Horizonte, capital of the southeastern state of Minas Gerais, trans woman Duda Salabert won the most votes of any candidate, becoming the first trans person elected to the city council.

Salabert, a teacher, ran for the center-left Democratic Labor Party (PDT). In Aracaju, capital of the northeastern state of Sergipe, voters also elected the first trans city councilwoman, Linda Brasil of the PSOL.