The Brazilian Supreme Court on Thursday convicted former President Jair Bolsonaro on charges that he tried to overturn the results of the country’s 2022 election.

The New York Times notes four of the five justices who heard the case voted to convict Bolsonaro and seven others implicated in the plot. The Supreme Court sentenced Bolsonaro to 27 years in prison.

Bolsonaro, a right-wing former Brazilian Army captain who represented Rio de Janeiro in Congress for nearly three decades, became the country’s president in 2018. Bolsonaro, among other things, faced sharp criticism over his rhetoric against LGBTQ Brazilians, women, and other groups.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, a member of the leftist Worker’s Party who was Brazil’s president from 2003-2010, in 2022 defeated Bolsonaro in the presidential election’s second round.

Da Silva took office on Jan. 1, 2023. Bolsonaro did not attend the inauguration.

Thousands of Bolsonaro supporters a week later stormed Congress, the presidential palace, and the Supreme Court. LGBTQ activists are among those who condemned what they described as an attempted coup.

Brazil’s Superior Electoral Court in June 2023 banned Bolsonaro from running for president until 2030.

“Papuda is waiting for you, Bolsonaro,” said transgender Congresswoman Erika Hilton on X, referring to the Papuda Penitentiary Center in the Federal District in which Brasília, the country’s capital, is located.

🚨 BOLSONARO, A PAPUDA TE ESPERA!

A Primeira Turma do Supremo Tribunal Federal acaba de definir a pena total de 27 anos e 3 meses de reclusão em regime FECHADO ao condenado Jair Bolsonaro.

Bolsonaro e seus aliados foram condenados pelos crimes de tentativa de golpe de Estado,… pic.twitter.com/5yzin5kzRb

— ERIKA HILTON (@ErikakHilton) September 11, 2025

The Trump-Vance administration last month imposed tariffs against Brazil in response to the Bolsonaro trial. The White House also sanctioned Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes, who oversaw the proceedings.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Thursday said on X the U.S. “will respond accordingly to this witch hunt.”

“The political persecutions by sanctioned human rights abuser Alexandre de Moraes continue, as he and others on Brazil’s supreme court have unjustly ruled to imprison former President Jair Bolsonaro,” said Rubio.

The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday said it plans to deport a transgender Brazilian woman who U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents arrested in Silver Spring.

A video posted to Instagram shows three plain-clothed ICE agents removing Alice Correia Barbosa from her car on Aug. 23. One agent misgendered Correia before he and the two other agents placed her into an unmarked SUV.

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A senior DHS official in response to the Washington Blade’s request for comment about Correia’s arrest referred to her by her birth name and described her as an “illegal alien from Brazil” who “overstayed his visa by almost six years.” The official also used male pronouns to describe Correia.

“He remained in the U.S. after his B-2 tourist visa that allowed him to remain in the U.S. for six months. Nearly six years later, he is still illegally in our country,” the official told the Blade. “Barbosa’s criminal history includes arrests possession of a controlled substance and marijuana possession. U.S. Border Patrol arrested Barbosa on Aug. 23, 2025, and he will remain in ICE custody pending removal proceedings. President Trump and Secretary Noem are committed to restoring integrity to the visa program and ensuring it is not abused to allow aliens a permanent one-way ticket to remain in the U.S.”

The Blade asked the official why they used Correia’s birth name to identify her and male pronouns to describe her.

“Because he is a man,” said the official.

Erika Hilton, a Brazilian congresswoman who is a Black travesti, on Aug. 24 said she asked the country’s Foreign Ministry to “intercede to guarantee the rights and physical integrity of Alice Correia Barbosa, a Brazilian trans woman who was arbitrarily, suspiciously, and violently arrested in the U.S.”

Hilton in her X post said Correia’s arrest is unconstitutional. Hilton further criticized the Trump-Vance administration’s overall immigration policy.

“Obviously, I don’t believe it’s fruitful to explain to the U.S. the illegalities committed by a Dorito-colored dictator’s little project,” said Hilton.

Acabo de acionar o Itamaraty pedindo que intercedam pela garantia dos direitos e integridade física de Alice Correia Barbosa, uma brasileira trans que foi presa de forma arbitrária, suspeita e violenta nos EUA.

Tudo, em desrespeito à Declaração Universal dos Direitos Humanos,…

— ERIKA HILTON (@ErikakHilton) August 24, 2025

The Brazilian Foreign Affairs on Wednesday told the Blade the country’s Consulate General in D.C. “is monitoring the case, in contact with local authorities, and providing consular assistance to the Brazilian national.” Them reported Correia is in ICE custody at the Caroline Detention Facility in Virginia.

Brazil has the highest number of reported murders of trans people in the world. The State Department’s 2024 human rights report that “erased” LGBTQ people does not mention this fact.

President Donald Trump in his inaugural speech announced the federal government’s “official policy” is “there are only two genders, male and female.” Hilton and Duda Salabert, another Brazilian congresswoman who is also trans, earlier this year said the U.S. listed their gender on their American visas as “male.”

Brazilian Jaime Braz Tarallo created a crossdresser studio 16 years ago so that his male clients could put their other identity into practice. He has worked with more than 5,500 people over the last decade.

According to the businessman, the most important thing is that they feel fulfilled to embody the opposite gender. 

“The goal is to be a woman; to feel like a woman,” he says. 

It’s a unique opportunity for men to express their feminine side in secrecy and away from judgment. Braz, who has also been a crossdresser for 25 years, shares his life with his alter ego, Lizz Camargo, an elegant lady in a blonde wig who agreed to talk about her business with the Washington Blade.

Camargo provides much more than a safe place to be transformed. She gives individual advice, offering make-up and costumes so that the experience is complete from start to finish. To ensure confidentiality, she sees clients one at a time and only by prior appointment to avoid encounters between clients when leaving and arriving at the venue. 

“They want to be feminine and made up, and I’m here to help them get their feminization wish fulfilled,” she says.

On the crossdresser studio’s website, the client chooses a package of services, each one covering a number of items and the duration of the experience, along with waxing and some additional services. Make-up and costumes are essential, and the clientele is mostly married men with children who describe themselves as heterosexual, but crossdress in secret.

Once they have chosen their package, they tell Camargo their weight, height, and shoe size, and she, based on her know-how, chooses a few pieces according to their measurements. On average, the client tries on four outfits and decides which one she likes best. If he’s a bear, Camargo says she has tricks to hide the hair on his legs and chest. 

The important thing is to always maintain femininity.

Camargo’s collection includes several costumes (dresses and lingerie), shoes (in men’s sizes), accessories that include gloves and hats, and 72 wigs of all colors to transform any man into a woman. The space has armchairs and a dressing table for makeup, all with a feminine touch. Packages start at $76, with prices gradually increasing according to what is offered.

Discretion is essential in this often misunderstood world, where the first contact is always made by phone. Even going to the studio is a slow process that can take months. Camargo explains her clients are opening up about their intimacy to someone, and this creates insecurity at first. 

“I would say that 80 percent of them arrive at the studio with a lot of apprehension, fear, and anxiety,” she said.

One of Camargo’s clients is Sheilla, who agreed to speak to the Blade as long as her real name was not revealed. For her, the moments as a crossdresser are something unique. 

“When I have the chance to be ‘in femme,’ because I am a convinced crossdresser, I feel fulfilled in my desire to see myself as a woman,” she said, having crossdressed for five years. 

Most of Camargo’s clients are recurrent, some coming to the studio twice a month, others less frequently. She sees around 25 people a month, and foreigners are not uncommon.

“I’ve seen around 15 people from more conservative countries like Portugal, Mexico, and Ireland, where crossdressing is forbidden, and also from Paraguay, Uruguay, Chile, and one person from the United States (Detroit),” she said.

Camargo explained they are people who have come to Brazil for work, and not specifically to dress in the opposite gender.

An outspoken crossdresser like Camargo is something of a rarity; even the outfits they wear are discreet, as if that were the intention. She, however, at least three times a year organizes dinners and cocktail parties at her studio that usually bring together around 50 crossdressers who feel comfortable around other people like her. Camargo four times a year also organizes Queen Cross Night, a party where crossdressers can walk on a catwalk as a team of judges watch them in a kind of beauty pageant.

“The objective is femininity, posture, and elegance — basic requirements — and of course the clothes she is wearing in the contest,” Camargo told the Blade. 

The caterpillar turns into a butterfly

The experienced crossdresser says that most of them start out in childhood, secretly wearing their mother’s or sister’s clothes. As adults, they do it at home when they are alone and often even get rid of the clothes afterwards so that their family doesn’t suspect anything. Contrary to what many people think, they don’t have to be gay but rather have a strong desire to feel like a woman, even if only for a few hours, although Camargo notices a tendency towards bisexuality. 

“I would say that 90 percent are bisexual, even without knowing it or accepting it; some have the desire to be in bed with another man,” she said.

Camargo notes that during the “metamorphosis” process her clients’ posture changes, with a subtle change in voice, way of walking, and behavior, as if the feminine soul were gradually emerging. Unlike gays, lesbians, and transgender people, crossdressers prefer secrecy, as if they were a secret sisterhood; it is not uncommon for Camargo to become a confidante to her clients, who sometimes ask her advice on whether they should reveal the secret to their wives. At this point, she points out to the client that his wife married his masculine side.

One of her oldest clients is 96-years-old, and his wife helped him build his feminine version. He found a way to express himself in the studio after she died five years ago.

Camargo said he looks identical to Queen Elizabeth after his transformation. Although rare, the studio sometimes receives couples where the wife is aware of her husband’s crossdressing side and deals with it well. 

“I see it as a privilege, a cross, with the acceptance and complicity of his wife, makes everything lighter and more interesting for him,” said Camargo.

Of the various package options, three are different. 

In one of them, the crossdresser can stay in the space for one night (wearing a nightgown); in another, she can go on an outing, such as going to a concert or a restaurant as a crossdresser, although it’s not very common. But one of the unique and desired by almost everyone, according to her, is a bridal day. 

“You become a bride, with make-up, false nails, and a wedding dress with a veil, wreath, and bouquet of flowers,” said Camargo. 

The experience, which lasts four and a half hours, costs around $144. Sheilla is one of those who had this experience, which also included photos taken outside.

When the fairy tale ends

The sessions last between three and five hours, depending on the package requested, because the make-up needs to be removed calmly and without a trace. During this process, Camargo often notices a look of sadness when the crossdresser start to come apart; it’s as if the enchantment has come to an end. That’s when the lady becomes a gentleman again, and everything returns to the way it was before.

Camargo can be seen as a visionary. 

In addition to having created an original business in Brazil, she also saw another way to diversify the enterprise for those outside of São Paulo. With this in mind, she travels to other cities and states to carry out a makeover: Bringing clothes, wigs, and shoes in her suitcase. The client in such a case pays for the package and travel expenses. Camargo said she has been to practically every state in Brazil.

Carla, a crossdresser who is another one of Camargo’s clients, lamented the lack of spaces for the crossdresser community.

“There should be more places like this, a lot of people have this desire, but they can’t make it happen,” she said. 

Sheilla suggested something more detailed. 

“It would be interesting to have a place just for us, like a pub or nightclub,” she said.

André Aram is a Brazilian freelance journalist who lives in Rio de Janeiro. He has worked for several media outlets in Brazil and abroad over the last several years. He is passionate about unusual stories and characters.