At Globo, activist Caio Ishida says “TV stereotype” does not represent transsexuals

Militant of the group Juntos!, Caio Fucidji Ishida participated in the program "Altas Horas", on TV Globo, to talk about the experience of trans men. Right at the beginning, he declared that "transsexuals are invisible people" and that the "stereotype we see on TV" does not match the trans reality.

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During the interview, which lasted 12 minutes, the young man declared that since he was "very young" he did not "feel comfortable" being seen as a girl, neither in family nor social spaces.

"School was very difficult, as I couldn't fit in with girls' and boys' games." When asked what the process of coming out as a trans man was like, Caio declared that he was "lucky" to have family support. "My family supported me. Nowadays I feel very respected in my family," he said, who was with his father in the audience.

Transphobia and the difficulty of finding a job was also addressed. "The place where I suffered the most prejudice was looking for a job. There were jobs like waiters, telemarketing, where they looked at my file and my CV and said: 'Sorry, but the job isn't for you.' And he pointed out that changing the name and gender on documentation – which would facilitate entry into the prejudiced job market – is still very bureaucratic.

"Today, the first thing you need to change your name is a medical report. And this is complicated because the moment you can be who you are, society starts to treat you like a mentally ill person," he declared. "Many people think it's a choice to be transsexual or not. But I couldn't live in my body. This has a lot to do with being happy. But how can you be happy in a country that kills the transsexual population the most? We are excluded , marginalized, but we want to be happy and we have to fight", he stressed.

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In the end, Caio was elegant in answering a question from a girl in the audience, who asked why many men don't want to undergo phalloplasty (or other surgical methods to have a penis) and don't want to "be complete men". The activist only responded that he is happy with the current body and that he will not operate to adapt to society. "Prejudice has to be overcome, it's not me who's wrong. The population also has to respect us, because besides there being many of us, we just want to be who we are."

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