Nikolas Ferreira becomes a defendant for exposing a trans teenager on social media

Transphobia

Nikolas released a video criticizing the presence of a transgender student in a women’s bathroom

Federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) became a defendant for transphobia this Thursday (21), after exposing a 14-year-old transgender teenager on social media last year. The complaint presented by the Public Ministry of Minas Gerais (MP-MG) was accepted by the Court of Justice of Minas Gerais (TJ-MG).

The case occurred in June last year, when Nikolas was a councilor in Belo Horizonte. He released a video on his YouTube channel, in which he criticized the presence of a transgender student in a girls’ bathroom at a school in the city.

In the video, titled “I cross-dressed in the bathroom at my sister’s school”the deputy exposed the name of the school and showed the moment in which the student was questioned by his sister, also a minor, in the women’s bathroom.

“The person comes in, creates embarrassment for other girls and you simply have to remain silent in the face of it. (…) I advise you to remove your child from this school”,

said Nikolas Ferreira in the recording.

After the images were broadcast, councilors Iza Lourença and Bella Gonçalves, from PSOL, denounced Nikolas for transphobia and for violating article 17 of the Child and Adolescent Statute (ECA). According to the text, it is the State’s guarantee to preserve the image and identity of a minor.

The complaint from the Public Ministry that was accepted by the Minas Gerais court states that the deputy exposed the teenager and “delegitimized her identity” by refusing to treat her in the way she recognizes herself. It is also mentioned that Nikolas tried to restrict the use of the bathroom “according to the gender that best represents” the minor.

“The accused caused irreparable damage to her self-esteem and identity, wanting to make her believe that society does not recognize her in her self-declared gender, that it ignores her gender narrative and that it names her in a way that does not match her experiences”,

says an excerpt from the complaint.

In addition to the conviction for transphobia, the MP also asks that Nikolas have his political rights suspended and pay compensation for collective moral damage. In 2019, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) equated transphobia with the crime of racism. With the decision, anyone who discriminates against transgender people can be sentenced to up to five years in prison.

Judge Kenea Marcia Damato de Moura, from the 5th Criminal Court of the District of Belo Horizonte, in the decision that accepted the Public Prosecutor’s statement, stated that “there is no possibility of rejection” of the complaint.

Nikolas Ferreira was contacted by Estadão, but did not comment until the publication of this text.

*With information from Estadão

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