LGBTQIA+ Rights in Brazilian parliamentary spaces: progress, threats, and resistance
Check out the legislative landscape regarding LGBTQIA+ rights in Brazil, with disputes in Congress and in State Assemblies, in addition to data on violence against Trans people
29ª Parada do Orgulho LGBT em São Paulo, em 22 de junho de 2025. (Foto: Cris Faga/NurPhoto via AFP)
In LGBTQIA+ Pride Month, Conectas is presenting a legislative landscape on the rights of the LGBTIQA+ population in Brazil. With data from the Observatória platform, Agência Diadorim, and the Dossier on Murder and Violence against Brazilian Transvestites and Transexuals in 2024, and Antra (National Transvestite and Transexual Association), the survey reveals a scenario of intense parliamentary dispute, with both relevant progress and constant threats to rights that have already been earned.
Pro and anti-LGBTQIA+ draft bills
According to monitoring by the Observatória platform, between the year 2019 and October 2024, 575 pro-LGBTQIA+ draft bills and 437 proposals considered anti-LGBTQIA+ were brought to the floor at Legislative Assemblies and the Brazilian Congress.
These favorable proposals involve the promotion of affirmative policies, the fight against discrimination, access to health, the use of the social name (the name by which someone identifies and is socially recognized, replacing their name given at birth or civil registry), and symbolic measures of recognition. Opposing draft bills, in turn, mainly seek the prohibition of neutral language, censorship of school content, restrictions to the use of bathrooms, and the exclusion of Trans athletes from sports competitions.
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States such as São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro concentrate the majority of draft bills – both for and against –, which reflects how polarized the topic has become. Numbers are lower in Congress, but the dispute logic is the same. In spite of the larger number of pro-rights draft bills, the balance is not the result of chance: it reflects the vigilant actions of civil society. Social movements, activists, and organizations have continually exerted influence, fighting for institutional and legislative space in defense of LGBTQIA+ citizenship.
Annual evolution of draft bills (pro and anti-LGBTQIA+)
| Year |
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| 2019 | 118 | 70 (57/13) | 43 (26/17) | 5 (5/0) | ||||
| 2020 | 105 | 76 (34/42) | 25 (16/9) | 4 (4/0) | ||||
| 2021 | 225 | 167 (77/90) | 50 (32/18) | 8 (7/1) | ||||
| 2022 | 87 | 65 (38/27) | 18 (12/6) | 4 (4/0) | ||||
| 2023 | 353 | 263 (134/129) | 81 (37/44) | 9 (7/2) | ||||
| 2024 | 124 | 83 (59/24) | 41 (26/15) | 0 (0/0) |
The face of violence: Brazil is the country with the most Trans murders worldwide
Antra’s dossier exposes the severity of the scenario in the country: for the 16th year in a row, Brazil has led the global ranking of Trans murders. 122 deaths occurred in 2024 – a 16% decrease in relation to the previous year, but an alarming figure, nonetheless.
The victims’ profile mostly comprises Black or racialized Trans women (78%), young Trans folk (66% of them were under the age of 35) and often murdered with exquisite cruelty (89%), mostly in public spaces.
In addition to direct violence, the dossier points to other forms of vulnerability, such as environmental transphobia – shown during climate disasters, such as in Rio Grande do Sul, when Trans people face obstacles when attempting to access shelter. Another point of concern is predatory anti-Trans litigation, with lawsuits organized to attack rights under the false pretense of protecting childhood or defending women.
The spread of hate speech online, driven by political groups and public figures, has worsened the scenario, going as far as affecting the mental health of Trans people. Cases of violence against Trans children and adolescents explain the use by the dossier of the terms “transinfanticide” or “transphobic infanticide”. UN Women has already warned that groups known as “gender-critical” actually operate as anti-rights movements.
Resistance and advocacy: there is no way back
In this setting, the political struggle to secure LGBTQIA+ rights is urgent. Legislative assaults and everyday violence reveal the need for municipal, state and federal parliaments to be committed to human rights.
Civil society has been the main stronghold of the resistance effort: occupying spaces, producing data, pressuring institutions, and creating support networks. It is this advocacy effort that turns outrage into public policies and makes sure that setbacks are reacted against.
More so than visibility, LGBTQIA+ Pride Month invites us to take concrete action: to ensure that diversity is protected by laws, recognized by institutions, and experienced with dignity by all.
