Disturbing footage has emerged out of a university in Brazil showing a trans-identified male student aggressively screaming at a female student who had questioned his presence in the women’s restroom.
On December 14, footage taken at the University of Brasília (UNB) began to circulate on social media, quickly racking up viral attention in the nation. The camera-phone video showed a large, bearded male wearing a dress loudly screaming in the face of a female student, who appeared to be trying to get away from him.
The footage can be traced back to the University’s cafeteria, and the incident was caused by the presence of the bearded man in the women’s restroom. The female student had reportedly attempted to question the man’s presence, expressing discomfort with him being there. The man then launched into a tirade of aggression, stalking the female student through the dining hall.
In video taken by the woman being assailed, she can be heard pointing out the man’s obvious characteristics.
“But you’re a dude!” The female student says.
“I am not a dude! Nothing is keeping me from bringing my hand to your face. Girl, respect me! Respect me!” He is heard screaming, using a colloquial expression for ‘slapping.’
In some extended clips, the trans-identified male student can also be heard claiming it was a “crime” to call him a man.
Brazilian media covered the incident today, offering a sympathetic portrayal of the trans-identified male student, who they did not identify. TV Globo also applied censorship to the available footage, obscuring the face and voice of the trans-identified male student involved.
In an interview with the student, TV Globo suggested he was the victim of transphobia, which they described as “a form of prejudice against transsexual people that can result in physical, moral or psychological violence.”
The trans-identified male student gave a statement, saying: “I felt extremely offended, I was being exposed, I was being humiliated by a person who was filming me. I ran to try to take her cell phone, and I lost control. But no one should go through this just because they want to use the bathroom.”
The female student involved in the incident similarly provided a statement, explaining that she had simply been afraid when she saw a male using the women’s facilities.
“I thought it was a man, right? Because I saw the beard. Then I asked him what he was doing in the bathroom. Because there are cases of harassment and rape that happen inside the university and I get very afraid of these things,” she explained.
In response to the TV Globo article and viral footage, Ariadne Ribeiro, a transgender officer at UNAIDS, stated it was “essential” that trans-identified males be protected in “collective” environments.
“Imagine the anguish of a human being who is unable to go to the bathroom simply because of this type of violence [and] aggression. What can we do, in terms of public policies, so that a public environment within a private institution guarantees security? Or even a public environment in a public university?” Ribeiro asked.
“It is important for [women] to know that the male bathroom for trans women is exactly as violent as they imagine it would be if they had a man in their bathroom.”
Though Brazilian media did not release the trans-identified male student’s identity, Reduxx can confirm him as being Brigitte Lúcia.
Earlier today, following the release of the TV Globo article in which he painted himself out to be a victim, Lucia posted a photo of wall graffiti which read “there are women with penises, men with vaginas, and transphobes with no teeth.” Lucia captioned the picture, “for me, it is an HONOR for you not to like me.”
On Instagram, women’s rights advocates condemned Lucia’s behavior at UNB, and pointed to the incident as an example of why single sex spaces are necessary.
One post featuring the footage of Lucia verbally attacking the female student was captioned: “Of course we are afraid of people like you in our spaces, dude. Who wouldn’t be?”
In response to the uploaded video, many Brazilian women expressed frustration and disbelief, with some users being quick to label Lucia’s behavior as “male pattern” violence.
“Today I saw a case of a man who killed his four children to take revenge on his ex-wife. Then I see a guy like this screaming and threatening a woman. Nobody comments on this being male violence. He’s a spoiled man who thinks he can have whatever he wants until he assaults women,” one Instagram user wrote in the comment section of the video.
Other users questioned whether the female student was safe at the facility, and noticed the lack of intervention from bystanders.
“Nobody defends the woman out of fear of being judged and suffering retaliation,” one Instagram user observed, with a reply stating: “If someone says something, they’ll be arrested for transphobia.”
Brazil has become a hot spot in the gender ideology debate in recent months, with multiple incidents out of the country sparking international attention and outrage.
In July of this year, a similar incident took place at a high school in Maringá, Brazil. Violent footage showing trans-identified male students physically assaulting female classmates began to circulate on social media, and it was quickly reported that the brutal attack was caused by the girls expressing concern about males being able to access the female washrooms within the school.
In one shot from the disturbing recording, a female student can be seen getting pushed to the ground. Her friend attempted to help her, but is grabbed by the hair and pulled to the side. Shortly after, she is seen being hit in the head repeatedly. Later in the clip, one of the trans-identified male students could be heard screaming: “Next time you’re transphobic, I’ll break your bones!”
Other incidents in the country include two women facing potential jail time for criminal “transphobia.”
Isabela Cêpa, a notable feminist activist in the country, spoke exclusively to Reduxx in June and revealed that she was being charged with five counts of “social racism” after calling a trans-identified male politician a “man.” Just a few months later, a female gym owner in Anápolis was charged on similar grounds after refusing to allow a trans-identified male membership to her woman-only gym.
12/18/22: An update on this story is now available.
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