ActivismPoliticsRaceSex & Gender

marielle franco was openly gay, erasing her partner is disrespectful

March 19, 2018
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Given the heinous slaying of Afro-Brazilian feminist activist Marielle Franco last week, it’s not a surprise that her intersectional identities are being erased, too. A poor black girl from the Maré favela, Marielle was unapologetically intersectional in her approach to activism. Advocating for impoverished communities of color, women’s issue’s, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ issues, and more, Marielle rose to prominence in Rio de Janeiro as a voice for those most in need.
And she did this as an afro-latinx lesbian in Brazil, a country that suffers from one of the highest numbers of homophobic and transphobic hate crimes in Latin America, 46,500 Rio locals elected Franco to represent them on the city council in the 2016 municipal elections. And the erasure of her identity as a lesbian and the partner she shared a life with dishonors her work and memory. Various mainstream media out let only refer to her sister and daughter when talking about her family.
She was very open about her love for a woman, Monica Teresa Benicio, as shown in her social media posts below:

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