A transsexual reported that she was a victim of transphobic violence when she tried to use a public women's bathroom in Praça Antônio Raposo, in the municipality of Araruama, in the state of Rio de Janeiro. In a video published on her social media profile, Dany Coluty says that she and a friend were using the bathroom when they were approached by a guard. “I was in the square and went to the bathroom, which I always used. From childhood. When I was there, a municipal guard came to talk to me with an arrogant tone. She asked me to leave. She said my place was in the men’s bathroom,” says Dany. When she refused to leave the bathroom, she says another officer started acting aggressively. “Then he started cursing me, trying to attack me. He said that it wasn't my place, that if I didn't leave well, I would leave by force”. “I felt so humiliated and attacked that I fought back. The square was full, with children, elderly people and people of all kinds. Some tried to defend me. If there was no one there, the guard would punch me in the face. They took me to the police station as if I were a criminal. They said it as if I had defied the guards. I have never felt so embarrassed and humiliated. I was born and raised in Araruama, I was drum queen of Araruama for four years and suddenly an embarrassing situation like this happens” she reported in an interview with the newspaper Extra. In a statement, the Araruama Secretariat of Security, Public Order and Civil Defense informed that an administrative process had been opened to investigate the facts. According to the secretariat, Dany was charged with disrespecting the civil guards and that “it should be clarified that the Araruama Civil Guard values equal rights, repudiating any type of discriminatory act”. It is worth highlighting that in Brazil transgender people do not have legal support from the courts to use bathrooms in accordance with their gender identity. There is a bill in the Federal Supreme Court on the subject that has been in progress since October 2014, however, the PL has not yet been approved.
