2024-01-15 21:31:33
“The princess’s true love was not Prince Febo or any other man: it was the dressmaker.” The one who tells this story in front of children is Helena Black, a drag queen who fights against homophobia in Brazil.
Wearing heavy makeup, an imposing fuchsia wig and a sparkling tutu, Helena walks from one corner to the other telling this love story, in the social center of Sao José dos Campos, near Sao Paulo.
Helena Black is the stage name of Paulo Reis, a 40-year-old arts teacher and actor who describes himself as gay, black and from the suburbs.
With this character, he intends to combat violence against the LGBT+ community in a country where 2.9 million people declare themselves homosexual or bisexual, out of 213 million inhabitants.
As in any princess story, the ending is happy – but atypical: “People from all the neighboring kingdoms attended the wedding.
Some out of friendship, others out of curiosity to see a union between two women,” says Helena, who interprets the tale of Brazilian author Janaina Leslao using dolls.
The story ends with applause.
If homophobia and transphobia have been considered crimes since 2019, Brazil is the most violent country against trans people, with around a hundred deaths between October 2022 and September 2023, according to a study by the NGO Transgender Europe conducted in 35 countries.
And a parliamentary initiative is making headway to ban same-sex marriage, validated by the Supreme Court in 2011.
Since 2017, Paulo Reis has been telling stories on LGBT+ themes to children and adults in dozens of cultural centers and libraries in Sao Paulo and other states in the country.
The city hall of Sao Paulo, the largest megalopolis in Latin America, sponsors these performances through an initiative called “Mom, there is a drag queen who tells stories!” “.
– “Political act” –
For this Brazilian born into a poor family, art is the main source of income.
“A drag queen can also educate and occupy spaces other than performance halls and activities of a sexual nature,” he explains.
Its presence in cultural spaces “is a political act of resistance”.
Vanessa Marques, a 44-year-old artisan, attended a Helena Black show with her daughter Maria Beatriz, 8, in Guarulhos, near Sao Paulo.
“I was curious, but being Catholic, I was a little worried,” she admits.
Finally, “I broke down prejudices and this first approach to LGBT themes for my daughter corresponds to the message that I want to convey to her: we must love each other, regardless of our preferences, races or religions”.
For Roberval Rodolfo de Oliveira, coordinator of performing arts at the socio-cultural center of Sao José dos Campos, it is important “to broaden the understanding of children and make them agents of peace, against violence”.
While this may bother some, “disturbing is inherent to art,” he says.
– At the refinery –
Helena Black carries her message into the business world.
She performed “The Princess and the Dressmaker” in front of dozens of workers at a Petrobras refinery, the Brazilian public giant in the oil sector.
“It was a good experience to be able to tell an LGBT+ story in front of a predominantly male audience, in a typically heterosexual atmosphere,” says Paulo Reis.
After this “conquest”, the actor now dreams of finding a place on television or on streaming platforms to “prevent Brazil from once again ignoring a homosexual, black and suburban artist”.
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