Sexual diversity and electoral politics: transgender candidates in Contemporary Brazil

Abstract

In this article, I discuss LGBT participation in Brazilian institutional politics, by focusing on candidates who identify as transgender. Firstly, I review the academic debate on political and descriptive representation. Using quantitative data, I investigate the social profile of those candidates (sex, age, education, political ideology, electoral performance, etc.), by contrasting them with LGB candidates. Finally, I conduct a qualitative analysis of electoral propaganda (banners, websites/blogs, Facebook/twitter pages, online videos) for transgender candidates. Both quantitative and qualitative data address the following questions: a) what are the similarities/differences between Transgender and LGB candidates’ social profiles? b) are transgender candidates previously involved in LGBT activism or this is a new type of engagement in sexual politics? c) do they use their transgender identity (and their experiences of discrimination) as political capital)? d) do their political programs engage the demands of LGBT activism?