A job seeker can face many obstacles along the way, and it becomes even more difficult when their identity and existence are not respected. This is everyday life for transgender people, who often have to deal with disrespect for their name and gender. Trans Visibility Day, the experiences of two people from Ceará who, in the arts, found an alternative to fulfill what they could not find in the Traditional Market: Opportunity and Respect.
January 29 is marked as a symbol of the fight against transphobia in Brazil because on this date, in 2004, a national action was organized to launch a campaign called “Travesti e Respect” in Brasília. Fighting transphobia, 19 years later, continues to be a duty, especially in Ceará. The state is the state with the second most murders of transgender people in the country, with 11 victims murdered in 2022, the same number registered in São Paulo.
19 years later, trans people continue to try to end the prejudices they suffer, even in the workplace. I worked a few days in a beauty salon. But he was on the street where my father lived, and there they abused me a lot. Because this person has known me since he was a child, since my childhood, so I used the masculine pronoun. Since then, I wasn’t interested in joining CLT,” says Lavinia Vieira, transvestite creator of Preta Chic, an art and fashion collective in Fortaleza.
She says that the idea of investing in fashion arose from her interest in working in the field of makeup and beauty, and she had the opportunity to take specialized courses in these fields.
Lavinia assesses that trans people are not welcome in traditional job opportunities. “It opens my mind to talk about CLT, because it was never an option for me. Putting it on a scale with my reality, as a terminal black transvestite, art weighs much less. I always thought that if it was not labeled, it would be disrespectful .
“Through my art I have been able to enter different spaces, facilities that I never imagined I could occupy, I like to provoke political action when I enter spaces like this,” explained the entrepreneur.
She said that through fashion she has been able to take her work to different platforms such as music videos, audiovisual productions, movies, fashion shows, etc. And she added: “Art has opened many doors for me, where I can nurture my work and grow more and more.”
“[With art] I think I can survive, you know? I still don’t live, I still can’t live in a dignified way. I’m still looking for that dignity, which I think is the minimum to be able to live. live well, in peace. With exuberance, luxury and a lot of glamour, because that is what we deserve”, stressed Lavinia.
Lavinia assesses that trans people are not welcome in traditional job opportunities. “It opens my mind to talk about CLT, because it was never an option for me. Putting it on a scale with my reality, as a terminal black transvestite, art weighs much less. I always thought that if it was not labeled, it would be disrespectful .
“Through my art I have been able to enter different spaces, facilities that I never imagined I could occupy, I like to provoke political action when I enter spaces like this,” explained the entrepreneur.
She said that through fashion she has been able to take her work to different platforms such as music videos, audiovisual productions, movies, fashion shows, etc. And she added: “Art has opened many doors for me, where I can nurture my work and grow more and more.”
“[With art] I think I can survive, you know? I still don’t live, I still can’t live in a dignified way. I’m still looking for that dignity, which I think is the minimum to be able to live. live well, in peace. With exuberance, luxury and a lot of glamour, because that is what we deserve”, stressed Lavinia.
Jobs for Transgender People
In 2021, IDT in Ceará launched the LGBT+ platform to facilitate registration and contribute to the access of the LGBT+ community to job intermediation services and job opportunities available in the agency system. g1 asked IDT how many job postings and resumes had been posted since the tool went live, but had not received a response until this report was published.
For the singer and DJ Angel History, it is necessary to create -and promote- strategies for hiring transgender people in companies to reverse the current scenario. “There is a need for a transgender employment program, so that companies are obliged to hire, there must be a quota guaranteed by law, because it is the only way to ensure that transgender people are employed, and that they enter the labor market, ”, explained the artist.
“In order to be well received in the labor market, I believe that appearance and gender criteria are still subject to a lot of analysis. Furthermore, documentation is not an easy process in Brazil. It is very bureaucratic, complex and inaccessible. Therefore, I don’t think transgender people are welcome in the traditional market,” lamented the music producer.
He added the singer, who chose an artistic career naturally, since she has always been associated with music.
Inclusion Strategy
In Fortaleza, one organization that cares about the diversity of its employees is Club Gandaia, which has adopted a policy that states that at least 50% of its employees are transgender.
“We analyze the profile of each case (through resumes that are the most suitable for possible positions at home) and we also seek, through a support network, to contact the largest number of transgender people who are looking for work,” he explained. Victor Wesley, owner of the soldier
“We have trans people in all areas of Gandía: security, cashiers and at the bar, DJ equipment, among others. We highlight that in the selection of DJs, more than 60% of the professionals involved are trans,” he added.
And the decision did not come by chance, because the public for the creation and management of the house is made up of a wide variety of people. “We are an LGBTQIA+ house, so we believe it is essential to make all messages in our community, in some way, belong to our family,” added Victor Wesley.
