Osasco São Cristóvão is in the finals of the Brazilian Women’s Volleyball Cup. In a game held this Friday (27), the team beat Sesc Flamengo by 3 sets to 0 in Londrina, Paraná, but the classification took a backseat to what happened in the gym’s stands.
Tiffany Abreu, from Osasco, is the first trans athlete in Brazilian professional volleyball and had her participation threatened by a movement by city councilors. The Londrina City Council approved yesterday (26), as a matter of urgency, by 12 votes to 4, a request that aimed to ban trans athletes from competitions in the city.
After the decision in favor of the athlete both in the Courts and the Federal Supreme Court (STF), what was seen on the court before the ball rolled was a wave of support. Tiffany received several tributes from her co-workers and a lot of affection from the fans.
That’s about it ❤️
— Portal Vôlei Brasil 🏐🇧🇷 (@portal_volei)
Anti-trans athletes project
The project is authored by councilor Jéssica Ramos Moreno (PP), known as Jessicão, and provides for the prohibition “of the participation of athletes identified contrary to their biological sex at birth in sports teams and in competitions, events and disputes involving sports in the municipality of Londrina and provides other measures”.
According to the law, non-compliance will result in “immediate revocation of the event permit and payment of an administrative fine in the amount of R$ 10,000.00”.
The law, however, confuses gender (male or female) with sexual orientation. According to the text, “the biological sex at birth is defined as ‘Female’ or ‘Male’, thus prevailing the prohibition on athlete participation”.
According to the text, if the gender is “identified contrary to the biological sex at birth: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Pansexual, Intersexual, Asexual, Transsexual, Agender, Non-binary gender, Cisgender, Transgender, Transvestite, among others”, the athlete will be violating municipal law.
CBV and Osasco go to court
To ensure that the match is uneventful, the STF. In his decision, judge Marcus Renato Nogueira Garcia stated that the municipal law “seems to violate the competence of the Union, the States and the Federal District to legislate concurrently on sports matters.”
In the STF, the decision was made by Minister Carmen Lúcia, who in her decision reiterated that the application of the municipal law “would generate great perplexity and legal and social insecurity by materializing a setback in the country’s policies of social inclusion, gender equality and promotion of human dignity” in recent years. It is worth noting, however, that the law has not yet been overturned and should be analyzed by the Supreme Court in the coming days.
Tifanny Abreu
At 40 years old, Tiffany is an athlete for Osasco São Cristóvão Saúde. She is the only transgender athlete in the history of elite women’s volleyball in Brazil to compete.
After several attempts to regularize her participation in women’s championships, the winger received authorization from the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) to compete.
Last season, she became the first trans woman to win the Superliga with Osasco.
Brazil Women’s Cup
The semi-finals of the Copa Brasil de Vôlei take place in Londrina, at the Moringão gymnasium. This Friday, after Flamengo x Osasco São Cristóvão Saúde, Gerdau Minas x Dentil Praia Clube face each other. The winners will meet in the grand final on Saturday (28), at 9pm.
