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Writer's pictureCorreio Braziliense

Documentary about FAB's first transgender cable premieres in April

Maria Luiza tells the story of the transsexual military and will be presented at the festival It's all true



The documentary Maria Luiza, which tells the story of Maria Luiza da Silva, the first military woman recognized as transsexual in the history of the Brazilian Armed Forces (FAB), already has a premiere date: between April 5 and 14, the feature will be screened at É all true, non-fiction production festival from Latin America.

Directed by Marcelo Díaz, the 80-minute documentary recovers the memory of the soldier, who worked in the Armed Forces for 22 years, until she retired due to disability. Instead of wearing the female uniform, she served alongside the men, a fact investigated on the scene. Díaz gained notoriety for making documentaries about characters in the city, such as the plastic artist Galeno and the mechanic José Perdiz, who turned his workshop into a theater.


Maria Luiza was born José Carlos, in Ceres (GO), but she never recognized herself as a man, which brought her huge disruptions in her military career. In 2000, when she was a corporal in the Air Force, the opinion of the High Command came, which diagnosed her as transsexual, ;unfit, definitely, for military service;, but ;not invalid, totally or permanently incapacitated for any work;.


At the time, she, with the male name, was working at the Brasília Air Base, where she was an aircraft mechanic. The command's decision culminated in retirement (retirement, in military parlance) against his will, with half his salary (the pay). Cornered, under threat not to make the decision public, he asked the DF Public Ministry for help. Prosecutor Diaulas Ribeiro, from the Prosecutor's Office for the Defense of Health Users (Pró-Vida), bought the fight. In the midst of the court war, in 2005, she underwent sex reassignment surgery. Two years later, Judge Lília Simone Rodrigues da Costa Viera, from 1; Family Court of the DF Court of Justice, gave the sentence that recognized the right of Maria Luiza; name chosen before surgery; belong to the female sex. Judge José Batista Gonçalves da Silva, from the Public Records Court of the Federal District, welcomed the MPDFT's manifestation and ordered the change of name and annotation in the margin of the birth certificate. Maria Luiza had a new certificate. In 2010, another great achievement: judge Hamilton de Sá Dantas, from 21; Federal Court, ordered the Air Force to reinstate Maria Luiza. Even if in the reserve, with pay equal to the military never retired. Cable, however, did not return to active duty, due to age. He turned 49 years old. The period of service, 30 years adopted in the Armed Forces, had already elapsed. Finally, the Air Force appealed to the STJ. Last year, at 56 years old, she was still struggling to return from where she was expelled because of her gender: the Air Force. In 2000, Correio narrated the drama of the military woman exclusively, with reports written by journalist Marcelo Abreu. The first article ended up becoming a series of reports, resulting in a wave of letters of support from readers to Maria Luiza.


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