BRAZIL: Trans-Identified Male Politician Who Attempted to Have Women’s Rights Activist Imprisoned For “Misgendering” Him Chosen to Lead Women’s Rights Committee
A trans-identified male politician who previously attempted to have a woman imprisoned for “misgendering” him was elected as president of the Women’s Rights Committee. Felipe Santos Silva, who has adopted the name Erika Hilton, told the Chamber of Deputies that the Committee should focus on women “without exception in their dignity and plurality,” and included transvestites in his definition.
“We will discuss projects here, we will discuss the lives of women here, we will remember that, whether they like it or not, cis women, trans woman and travestis [transvestites] will not be abandoned in this discussion, and I don’t care about anyone’s wishes,” Hilton, of the Socialism and Liberty Party, stated.
In Brazil, the Commission for the Defense of Women’s Rights (Comissão de Defesa dos Direitos da Mulher) – is a standing committee in the Chamber of Deputies. Its members are responsible for evaluating legislation and public policies related to violence against women and issues that impact women’s health.
The decision was celebrated on Reddit forum r/MTF, where men who claim to be women said Hilton’s appointment was “fantastic” and “epic.”
Upon accepting the role of President of the Women’s Rights Commission, Hilton blasted his critics as “LGBTphobes” and “defenders of pedophilia.”
On March 11, the same day he was elected to the position, Hilton filed a criminal complaint against TV presenter Carlos Massa, widely known as Ratinho, for questioning his appointment to the Women’s Rights Commission. On the Sistema Brasileiro de Televisão (Brazilian Television System – SBT), Ratinho criticized the decision, stating, “I didn’t think it was very fair… why give [the role] to a trans woman?” He also remarked that Hilton “is not a woman.”
“I have nothing against trans people,” Ratinho said. “For a woman to be a woman, she has to have a uterus.”
The claim against Ratinho and SBT, filed with the Public Prosecutor’s Office of São Paulo, accuses the presenter of “transphobia, transphobic slurs,” and “gender-based political violence.” Hilton is demanding $10 million Brazilian reals, the equivalent of $1.9 million dollars.
“What the presenter committed was violence, an attack, and it wasn’t just against me,” Hilton wrote in a social media post. “Ratinho interrupted his program to say that trans women aren’t women, that women who don’t menstruate aren’t women, that women who don’t have a uterus aren’t women, and that women who don’t have children aren’t women. This attack from Ratinho was against all trans women and against all cis women who no longer menstruate or never have.”
“He and SBT will pay for their actions, in the civil and criminal spheres,” he continued. “And they won’t pay me, but all women victims of violence, trans and cis. Finally, it’s worth remembering: I am and always will be a woman. This presenter is, and always will be, a rat.”
But Ratinho is not the only individual who has faced criminal prosecution for declining to “validate” Hilton.
As previously reported by Reduxx, feminist activist Isabela Cêpa faced criminal charges lodged against her by Hilton in 2021.
Hilton was elected to São Paolo’s municipal government in November of 2020, winning his seat by a landslide that gave him the title of the most voted-for ‘woman’ in Brazil.
At the time of his victory, Hilton was celebrated in international media as being a “symbolic triumph” for transgender people. Hilton was amongst the top 10 most-voted for candidates in all of Brazil, and was touted as the “only woman” to make the list.
“At the time I didn’t even know who this person was. I just saw a headline on an Instagram page celebrating that ‘the most voted woman in São Paulo is a transwoman,’” Cêpa told Reduxx. “Then, I shared a video with my followers saying I was disappointed to hear that the most voted-for woman in São Paulo – later found out that it was in the entire country – was a man.”
Hilton didn’t report Cêpa to police until November of 2021, and in January, police arrived at Cêpa’s mother’s workplace to ask for her whereabouts. After speaking with police, Cêpa did not hear about the status of the complaint until June 2022, when she was contacted by a reporter seeking comment for an article.
It was at that time that Cêpa learned she was being charged with 5 counts of “social racism” after the Public Prosecutor combed her social media feed to find other “transphobic” statements. In total, Cêpa was facing 25 years in prison for calling Hilton a man.
In 2019, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court ruled that discrimination against ‘LGBTQ Community’ constituted a penal offense, but fell under existing race-based protections as a form of “social racism.” This came a few years after State Police in São Paolo began to include trans-identified males in “femicide” statistics.
Last year, Cêpa was granted full refugee protections by the European Union Agency for Asylum. The previous year, 2024, Cêpa had been stopped by at the Salvador Bahia Airport while attempting to travel to Spain to visit a friend. Federal agents flagged an alert linked to her passport and pulled her aside for further inspection. During the subsequent interview, authorities reportedly determined that her situation could meet the criteria for political persecution.
In June of 2025, Cêpa formally applied for refugee status, which she was granted – making her the first Brazilian citizen to receive this designation for state persecution since 1985.
In September 2025, Justice Gilmar Mendes rejected Hilton’s complaint against Cêpa, and in the ruling, stated that calling Hilton a “man” does not constitute a hate crime.
In December, women’s magazine Marie Claire named Hilton as one of it’s “women of the year.” Hilton was called “one of the most influential voices of her generation” and praised for his “initiatives that expand rights, rethink work models and put women and trans people at the center of discussions on welfare, citizenship, equity and access.” His persecution of Cêpa and threats towards other feminists was not mentioned.
As previously reported by Reduxx, multiple Brazilians have faced criminal charges for statements or commentary deemed “transphobic.” Earlier this year, women’s rights activist Karen Mizuno revealed she had been notified by police that she may face criminal charges after mocking a trans activist who claimed that “archaeologists are transphobic.” Mizuno faces up to three years in prison.
Originally written for and published by Reduxx, your source for pro-woman and pro-child safeguarding news.
Brazil is a dumpster fire for so many reasons.
I'm sure he means DICKnity and not dignity. A male in drag would know nothing of women's dignity.