Indianara Siqueira (Courtesy: Facebook)

BR — Rio de Janeiro. Indianara Siqueira, a prominent male political figure and transgender activist who identifies as a woman, has been expelled from the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL) of Brazil amidst accusations that he staged a “coup,” taking over property used by a non-profit organization and appropriating it for the housing of transsexual street persons and the sexual exploitation of children. The film Indianara – which debuted in Cannes in 2019 and had its Avant-Première in Rio de Janeiro on March 10, 2020 – honors the life of the controversial figure, who is praised in the film’s marketing as a “Brazilian icon [who …] leads the fight against a repressive government to protect her country’s transgender population.”

48-year-old Indianara’s bid for federal deputy of Rio de Janeiro in the 2018 elections was rejected by PSOL while the party conducted an investigation into a complaint against him.

According to the complaint, Indianara, who joined the cultural center Casa Nuvem in June 2014, announced “Occupation” of the House on Facebook on February 28, 2016. The complaint says the move had followed two months of bullying of the center’s founders. According to the complaint, this bullying consisted of Indianara demanding via WhatsApp, a messenger platform, that Nuvem “release the space” for his project Nem; announcing he would no longer communicate with other House managers face-to-face, but via text only; and starting a “virtual lynching” in which he called for Sangue nas Nuvens – “Blood in the Clouds” – a social media campaign that effectively silenced Nuvem by tarring the group as ‘transphobic’.

Casa Nuvem (Credit: Casa Nuvem)

Renaming the property Casa Nem, Indianara converted it into what he called a “trans woman house,” filling the place with “transsexuals” involved in street prostitution. Running up bills he could not pay, Indianara drove the property into a debt of over R$ 100,000, and in September 2016, the House received an eviction order, the complaint alleges.

The complaint had been lodged with the National Commission of Ethics of PSOL by one of four original founders of Casa Nuvem, Isabel Ferreira Zarzuela, a Spain-born art historian, feminist and lefist affiliated with PSOL, and her companion Eduardo Bonito.

According to the PSOL Ethics Committee (page 45), an adolescent who resided at Casa Nem filed a legal complaint claiming to have been subjected to and have witnessed the prostitution of children on the premises:

During the analysis of the case we had access to a complaint sent to the Ministry Public by means of Official Letter N 019/2018, according to which an adolescent trans resident of Casa Nem, had denounced practices of sexual exploitation and various forms of human rights violations within the House.

The committee heard testimony from many witnesses, and reviewed a substantial amount of evidence, including Indianara’s WhatsApp messages and 30 hours of audio. Indianara had made several damning statements in public posts and videos, appearing to brag about his “occupation” of the House and expulsion of Nuvem.

The report by the Ethics Committee determined that Indianara had coerced the people of Casa Nuvem “to leav[e] their space built after years of collective effort,” and that the “expulsion constitute[d] sufficient reason for” him to be expelled from PSOL. PSOL found that, as a means of coercion, Indianara had issued death threats, weaponized accusations of transphobia, and engaged in defamation of character and the spread of fake news.

At the conclusion of the investigation in April 2019, PSOL announced a unanimous vote to remove Indianara from the party:

The National Executive of the PSOL communicates, with regret, the dismissal of IndianarA Siqueira from its party cadres. The measure was approved by the National Board, with no contrary vote from its 61 members, based on the opinion of the PSOL National Ethics Committee.

Indianara

Despite the accusations of child prostitution and other unethical behavior, Indianara has retained notable supporters. These include: the LGBT Sector of PSOL; Mandata Quilombo – which was built by Erica Malunguinho, the first black, trans state deputy of São Paulo; the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals; and the Forum of State Coordination of Transvestites and Transsexuals of the State of Rio de Janeiro.

Supporters denounce the accusations that led to Indianara’s expulsion as a “transphobic narrative.” Rodrigo Luis Veloso of the LGBT Sector of PSOL RJ slammed Ms Ferreira, the feminist who had filed the complaint against Indianara for the invasion of Nuvem property, as “the right-wing Spaniard” who holds a “conservative view of the trans universe.”

No Corpo Certo, an organization that is critical of the effects of the gender identity movement on children, compiled a list of activists who are asking the party to review the decision, and urged fellow leftists to challenge those standing behind a man accused of child exploitation while dismissing detractors as ‘transphobic’: “You will recognize people you voted for, friends, affiliated with your party. […] These people […] claim to speak for you.”

Ms Ferreira revealed that she feels vindicated by PSOL’s decision, but also conveyed sorrow at the loss of two organizations:

I take this opportunity to express my sadness. Sadness for the lost spaces (Nuvem and nem) in a city with a historical lack of autonomous spaces. Infinite sadness for my lost loves in the midst of this war. Sadness for so many things that would have and would not have happened if, before we had made certain decisions, we had considered that ends do not justify the means and that the rhetoric of uncritical violence is a double-edged sword.

Indianara declared on June 15, “Homotransphobia is a crime. I was just waiting for it to work out. From Monday I will sue the psol using this new law.”

Indianara had been a member of PSOL since 2013. He is also chair of the NGO TransRevolución. As part of a transgender activist group, he fought for the right of transgender individuals to use their chosen names. He has also fought for male patients who identify as trans women to be placed in the female wing at hospitals.

Indianara served a prison sentence in France between 2007 and 2009 for the crime of pimping. He had been ordered to pay restitution to the victims, but has failed to comply. Due to the conviction, he is prohibited entry into France to this day.

On his public figure Facebook page, Indianara, who began using cross-sex hormones at the age of 12, describes himself as a “whore, vegan, transvestite and Alternate Councilor…an activist in defense of visibility and trans citizenship of all LGBTIQs and women.” During the 2016 elections, he dubbed himself the puta vereadora (“whore councilwoman”) candidate. He has been repeatedly arrested in Brazil for marching topless, including at the country’s annual March of the Whores (link NSFW).

INDIANARA Movie Poster

Directed by Aude Chevalier-Beaum, the film Indianara was created as a portrait of the militant activist’s “political life and public life, personal life and intimate life,” according to a Radio France International (RFI) interview. The documentary feature, which was brought to world debut last year at the Cannes Film Festival by the Association of Independent Cinema for sa diffusion, has been a hit, with several showings before a packed house and a contract to run on the commercial circuit during the week.

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A Executiva Nacional do PSOL comunica, com pesar, o desligamento de Indianare Siqueira dos seus quadros partidários. Parecer Comissao de Etica PSOL

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