A trans male politician in Brazil has recently been elected as the president of Brazil's top Women's Rights Committee. Felipe Santos Silva, who uses the name Erika Hilton and sits in the Chamber of Deputies for the Socialism and Liberty Party, was elected president of the Commission for the Defense of Women's Rights on March 11. The committee is responsible for evaluating public policies related to women’s health and violence against women.Brazil has consistently ranked among the countries with the highest rates of violence against women, including sexual violence and homicides. Upon accepting the role, Hilton declared that the committee would serve women "without exception in their dignity and plurality," explicitly including transvestites in that definition."Whether they like it or not, cis women, trans women and travestis will not be abandoned in this discussion, and I don't care about anyone's wishes," Hilton told the Chamber of Deputies.Only hours after the appointment, Hilton filed a criminal complaint with the São Paulo Public Prosecutor's Office against TV host Carlos Massa after he questioned the decision."I didn't think it was very fair… why give the role to a trans woman?" Massa said, "For a woman to be a woman, she has to have a uterus."Hilton's complaint accuses Massa of transphobia and gender-based political violence, and is seeking $10 million Brazilian reais (roughly $2.6 million CAD) in damages.The appointment drew international attention when São Paulo state representative Fabiana Bolsonaro wore black face to protest the appointment, drawing an ironic parallel between her attempt to be black and Hilton’s appointment.This is not the first time Hilton used lawfare against someone for declining to use female pronouns..In 2021, Isabela Cêpa a well known feminist activist shared a video on social media expressing disappointment that the highest voted female candidate in São Paulo's municipal election was a trans-identified male. Hilton filed a complaint against her, and Cêpa eventually faced five counts of "social racism" — a designation established by Brazil's Supreme Federal Court in 2019 that extended race-based hate crimes to extend to gender identity. She faced up to 25 years in prison for calling Hilton a man.Cêpa's situation deteriorated further in 2024, when Brazilian federal authorities flagged her passport at Salvador Bahia Airport as she attempted to travel to Spain. Authorities determined her circumstances may constitute political persecution. In June 2025, she formally applied for refugee status with the European Union, becoming the first Brazilian citizen to receive that designation for state persecution in Brazil’s modern democratic era.In September 2025, Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes rejected Hilton's complaint against Cêpa, ruling that referring to Hilton as a man does not constitute a hate crime.
