Carlos Massao Mouse, 70, spoke out on his Monday (16th) program on SBT about the controversy in which he was involved on the 11th, when he commented that the federal deputy Erika Hilton33, elected to the presidency of the Women’s Committee in the Chamber, “not a woman“. Internet users quickly accused him of transphobia, discrimination against trans people, and the presenter is being sued by Erika.
“I was involved in a real hurricane after giving my opinion here on the program. Hundreds of people made comments on social media or in publications. I want to thank everyone who supported me, I didn’t even have the chance to follow the thousands of messages, almost all unanimous with favorable comments. A lot of people, a lot of people actually agreed with me“, he began.
“Of all the flaws I have, and I have many, the one that bothers people the most is my sincerity, since I started on television. I’m not an internet kid, when I started on TV and radio there was no internet. That’s what to talk things and, in current times, whoever tells the truth can be victim of patrolling and sealingwhich we didn’t have at that time”, he explains.
Ratinho says he intends to continue like this. “Those who like me will continue to like me, those who don’t will continue to dislike me. I’m not going to change my way of being to please anyone. Here’s the message. I’m not going to change”, he concluded.
URGENT! Ratinho makes a statement after speaking against Érika Hilton. According to him, it was an opinion, and he claims that it will not CHANGE.
— Brenno (@brenno__moura)
Last Friday (13), he had already used social media to talk about the subject. “I defend , but I also defend the right to question whoever governs. Political criticism is not prejudice. It is . And I will not remain silent. I invite journalists, commentators, presenters: speak. Publish. Do not remain silent. Because silence is connivance”, he said.
Understand the case
Last Wednesday night (11), during the “Programa do Ratinho”, the presenter commented on the election of Erika Hilton to the presidency of the Women’s Committee in the Chamber and said that the deputy “is not a woman”. Internet users quickly accused him of transphobia, discrimination aimed at trans people.
“I didn’t think that was fair. So many women, why would it go to a trans woman? Erika Hilton is not a woman, she is trans. I have nothing against trans women, but if there are other women… really women”, said the presenter. “To be a woman you have to have a uterus, menstruate, you have to be boring for three, four days. I’m against it. I think you should leave a woman.”
Erika Hilton stated, on social media, that she was against Ratinho. “I know that, due to the negligible audience of your program, which as far as I know doesn’t please even your bosses at SBT, you have to resort to violence. Because what the presenter committed was violence, an attack, and it wasn’t just against me”, she began, in text.
On Thursday (12), the politician asked the Special Group to Combat Racial and Intolerance Crimes of the MPSP (Public Ministry of São Paulo) to investigate the presenter. The case was presented by the regional attorney for Citizens’ Rights Enrico Rodrigues de Freitas and originated from a representation sent to the MPF by Erika Hilton herself.
According to the MPF, this type of statement constitutes discriminatory speech and can contribute to dehumanizing and delegitimizing the identity of trans people. In the action, the agency states that the statements presented in the program represent a form of symbolic violence against the LGBTQIA+ community, as they reduce female identity to only biological characteristics.
A CNN Brazil talked to Yuri Carneiro CoelhoPhD in Law, specialist and professor in Criminal Law, who explained that “homophobic or transphobic insult is characterized by the use of prejudiced words, writings or gestures that offend the subjective honor of the offended party, regardless of their sexual orientation, this being the understanding of the STJ (Superior Court of Justice)”.
In the case of the presenter, Coelho said that five years, being possible to be served in an open regime or replaced by sentences restricting rights.
