First state-run clinic for trans people unveiled in Brasília

A clinic for transvestite, transgender, and transsexual people was unveiled in Brasília on Monday (Aug. 14). It will provide trans people in Brazil's capital city a full range of medical services.

Melissa Massayury, a representative of the Libertarian Union of Transvestite and Transgender Women, says the new center is an extremely important milestone for a cause that is largely overlooked. “We will be able to receive medical care from professionals who are qualified to do just that,” said Massayury.

One of the problems that require special attention, according to her, is that many trans people take hormone therapy without medical supervision: “I hope the staff who will be dealing with the transvestite and transsexual population, and the clinic staff more generally, is sensitive enough and gives people decent standards of care,” Melissa said.

*Julia Buonafina is an intern under the supervision of Fernando Fraga.

Translated by Mayra Borges