Diary

There's a cis male actor in Brazil called Luis Lobianco, who has written a stars in a play called GISBERTA currently running in Belo Horizonte.

The play tells the story of a trans woman who was tortured and murdered in Portugal in 2006 and who has since become a symbol of resistance against trans women's oppression.

Not tactful or clever, then, for a cis man to play the part and exclude all trans women from the cast.

Especially not in the context of the atrocious murders of trans women that occur almost daily in Brazil, or the fact that the grotesque inequalities in the labour market force 90% of trans women in Brazil to work in the sex industry.

It's fantastic to see so many trans organisations in Brazil protesting about this casting, denouncing what they call "trans fake" on stage and screen.

I so strongly support them, and what makes me personally very proud is to see Renata Carvalho in the thick of these protests, and to know her activism has been inspired by performing my "Gospel According To Jesus Queen of Heaven".

Because art does make a difference.