Brazilian social media influencer Bianca Barreto was sentenced to two years of conditional liberty and ordered to pay a 20,000 reais (about $3,900) fine after a court found she deliberately used male pronouns to refer to transgender federal lawmaker Duda Salabert.
Judge Eduarda de Lima Vidal of the 9th Criminal Court in Salvador, Bahia, convicted Barreto on July 29, according to reporting by Gazeta do Povo and Reduxx. The judge concluded that Barreto intentionally used the "opposite" gender to demean a person who self-identifies otherwise, and that such conduct went beyond protected opinion or free speech.
The ruling stems from a video Barreto posted in August 2024 in which she criticized an earlier legal action brought by Rep. Duda Salabert against conservative Rep. Nikolas Ferreira. In the video, Barreto said she would continue to address Salabert using masculine terms, declaring that "a man is a man, a woman is a woman" and noting that Salabert is married to a woman and has a child.
Legal Basis and Context
The conviction cites a 2019 decision by Brazil's Supreme Federal Court (STF) that classifies acts of homophobia and transphobia under the country's racism laws until Congress enacts specific legislation. Under that framework, discrimination can carry prison terms and may affect pretrial release rules; Brazilian commentators sometimes refer to these offences as "social racism."
Judge Vidal wrote: "The intentional use of birth sex to humiliate and denigrate a transgender woman in public goes beyond any normal opinion; it cannot be defended as freedom of speech and denies Salabert's recognition as an identity and citizenship."
Sentence, Supervision and Appeals
Under Brazil's "open regime," Barreto will be subject to ongoing court supervision without physical detention. The trial court issued the verdict, and it may be appealed to higher courts. Barreto's attorneys said they will ask higher courts to review the case within the legal deadline, arguing the remarks did not promote violence or hatred and should be weighed in light of freedom of speech, personal conviction, and religious practice. They said they accept the sentence but disagree with the interpretation of the evidence.
Related Proceedings
The matter follows separate legal actions involving Rep. Nikolas Ferreira. A criminal complaint Salabert filed against Ferreira — who had vowed to address her using masculine terms — was dismissed on procedural grounds. In a related civil case, Ferreira was ordered in 2023 to pay Salabert 80,000 reais in damages; that award was later reduced to 30,000 reais on appeal, according to Reduxx.
Sources: Gazeta do Povo, Reduxx. The original report first appeared on Where Is The Buzz.
