Brazilian transgender woman, mother, pastor hopes to add state legislator to her name

Record ID: 1357796

  • Title: Brazilian transgender woman, mother, pastor hopes to add state legislator to her name
  • Date: 25th September 2018
  • Summary: SAO PAULO, BRAZIL (RECENT) (REUTERS) TRANSGENDER PASTOR AND CANDIDATE FOR SAO PAULO STATE CONGRESS, ALEXYA SALVADOR, KNEELING ON THE FLOOR WITH HER FAMILY DURING A CHURCH SERVICE
  • Embargoed: 9th October 2018 18:48
  • Keywords: Brazil LGBT transgender Christian transgender pastor and candidate for Sao Paulo state congress Alexya Salvador
  • Location: SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
  • City: SAO PAULO, BRAZIL
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Society/Social Issues,Editors' Choice
  • Reuters ID: LVA0018Z4LPHF
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:With a record number of transgender candidates on the ballot in Brazil's upcoming elections; mother, teacher and pastor Alexya Salvador hopes to add one more title to her name, Sao Paulo state congresswoman.
    Though she says she didn't always know she'd run for office, Salvador has always been political in the past, referencing activism for LGBTQ and Afro-Brazilian rights.
    Salvador said she identified as a gay man until she was about 28-years-old when she says she realized she was transgender.
    She said the only issues she had while transitioning from Alexander to Alexya at her school was with adult coworkers, and not the students.
    Religious since she was a child, Salvador will now try to win a state congressional seat under the PSOL (Socialism and Liberty Party), a far-left Brazilian political party.
    While most pastors, bishops and religious leaders in Brazilian government caucus with the conservative Evangelical Caucus, it is not clear where Salvador, who leads church services at the Metropolitan Community Church in Sao Paulo, would fit in if elected.
    At home Salvador wears another hat altogether, that of mother, where she cares for her two adopted children, Gabriel, who has special needs and Ana Maria, who identifies as transgender like her mother.
    Salvador is just one of 45 transgender candidates on ballots throughout Brazil ahead of the October 7 election, a record number for the South American country.
    The surge of transgender candidates comes with the backdrop of the far-right leading presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro who has enraged many minority groups in Brazil with comments denigrating women, gays, blacks and indigenous people.
    A survey released on Monday (September 24) showed Bolsonaro with 28 percent voter support in the first round vote compared to 22 percent for Fernando Haddad, the presidential candidate for Brazil's leftist Workers Party (PT), who is currently in second place in a wider field.
    In the likely scenario of a runoff vote, required by law if no candidate wins a majority in the first ballot, Haddad has 43 percent compared to Bolsonaro's 37 percent. Last week, Ibope showed the pair were tied with 40 percent each.
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