Brazil
Rise in sex parties in Brazil upends country’s gay nightlife
Some fear phenomenon will mark industry’s demise
Gay nightlife in Brazil, especially in Rio de Janeiro and other cities with great tourist, is going through a difficult time. If in the past there were countless LGBTQ nightclubs scattered around the city, with the vast majority of them in Copacabana, today there are no more than six in the area.
The emergence of the internet and later dating apps made it possible to meet someone through a small screen without having to go to a nightclub. But it wasn’t just the digital world that had an influence on this; several other issues also contributed to the decline of Brazilian gay nightlife. To better understand this new scenario, the Washington Blade spoke to veteran artists from Brazil’s LGBTQ scene to understand the roots of this complex enigma.
The cost of maintaining a nightclub involves high and fixed expenses, such as rent, staff for various functions, attractions, and other bills, when financial return was guaranteed in the past, but not today. Brazil’s gay nightlife, especially in Rio, hasn’t gone extinct, it’s still resisting, but competing with new trends: sex parties. In recent years, they have become more and more frequent in the “Cidade Maravilhosa” or the “Marvelous City” as Rio is known and their main focus is group sex.
Spread between the city’s South and Central Zones, they take place on regular dates, in fixed or itinerant locations, such as saunas and old mansions. They are always on a differentiated schedule that can involve go-go boys, open bars, and other attractions.
It’s impossible to talk about the success of these spicy parties without having a look at gay nightlife in the past; and the changes that took place during the 1990s and 2000s, when the internet was just becoming popular and a new generation was being born. If in the past, gay nightclubs were a place to dance, drink, flirt, and maybe end the night with someone, these stages have been skipped for something much more immediate.
MachoMan, one of Rio’s most famous sex parties, brings together a male audience of around 130 participants at each edition. The event has grown and is currently held in three different places: a mansion, a sauna, and a bar. Over the seven years of its existence, the party’s creator, Maurício Code, estimates that 25,000 men have been there. Asked about the popularity of adult parties in parallel with the decline of nightclubs, he replied: “In times of immediacy when it comes to libido, many people want to skip the flirting phase and get straight to the point. Less talk and more action is the premise of the new times.”
For the organizer, there are guarantees at a carnal party, which can be uncertain at a nightclub.
“At sex parties, the guarantee of some sexual interaction is a certainty,” he says.
MachoMan has had upwards of 220 parties. Some of them offer an open bar, changing rooms, showers, a steam room, and even places for BDSM and other fetishes. Unlike the nightclubs that had darkrooms for anonymous pleasure in the dark, the pleasure at these parties is collective and in front of everyone.
Another issue to be considered is that the cost of these sex parties is lower than that of nightclubs; since the events take place on specific dates, the professionals involved (bartenders, DJs, cleaners, go-go boys, bodyguards, etc.) are hired just for that occasion. The rented space can host other events — straight or gay — on other dates — with our without erotic appeal. Because they don’t take place on specific days, this also creates an expectation among the audience for the next party..
In fact, the only obstacle to these libidinous parties is competition.
There are currently dozens taking place almost simultaneously in Rio and other cities. The schedule varies little, but they always have beautiful naked men with bodies sculpted in the gym entering a male audience eager for pleasure. Raphael Habbib is one of them.
Although he is Brazilian, he has Arab features and is one of the most sought-after go-go boys, appearing at many libertine parties with his sensual performances. For him, the phenomenon of erotic parties is associated with a change in behavior.
“The gay audience has changed, we are now more willing to experience sexuality in a more genuine way, exploring all forms of enjoyment,” said Habbib.
Regarding the collapse of nightclubs, he reflects: “Sex parties have a nightclub atmosphere, music, booze, and lots of sex with no compromise, in other words, they have everything that nightclubs used to have and more.”
A portrait of the past gay scene
In the 1980s and 1990s in Brazil; nightlife was a meeting of tribes, of subcultures, each occupying their own space and, above all, expressing their sexuality after a full day of repression at work. In this sense, nightlife was a place to let loose, enjoy, drink, and interact, even if the hangover came the next day. The big urban centers had endless nights, streets full until dawn, and pleasant encounters came about by chance. There has been a transformation that not only involves the rise of the internet, but also economic crisis and violence. Nightlife is quieter, and there is no single culprit.
However, since the 2000s, the LGBTQ nightlife scene has been changing by leaps and bounds. Nightlife entrepreneurs have had to reinvent themselves as their audiences have migrated elsewhere; and some, even though they were looking for innovation, ended up closing their doors a few years later.
Veteran drag queen Eula Rochard has been on stage since 1984 and has followed all these changes closely. For her, the advance of LGBTQ policies in Brazil since the late 1990s has caused the gay community to spread to other places where they were not welcome before.
While in terms of rights it was progress, on the other hand, there was a move away from gay “ghettos.”
“People who used to hide from home to go to nightclubs no longer hide,” said Rochard. “In the 1980s, everything was hidden, the nightclubs were ghettos, there were several at the time, the fees were bad, but there was a lot of work. I traveled the country.”
Rochard, however, recognizes the importance of these policies.
“That was great, because in my time people were killed and nothing happened (impunity), but businessmen no longer wanted to invest in nightclubs, if a gay person could go or kiss anywhere, so the nightlife for us gays has weakened a lot, it’s almost non-existent,” she said.
Rochard in 2023 made international headlines when she revealed that former U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) was once a drag queen known as Kitara Ravache who performed in Rio and in the nearby city of Niterói,
Trans artist Angelika Rawaxi shares the same opinion.
“Nowadays we have the chance to go to other places, we have laws in our favor, and we don’t have to be in ghettos anymore,” said Rawaxi. “What has contributed is the freedom we’ve been given to go to other places and expand our work.”
Both don’t believe that the internet has harmed gay nightlife, on the contrary. In terms of relationships, however, the online world has presented a problem.
“People used to go to gay clubs to kiss, to find a boyfriend, and that’s over,” lamented Rawaxi. “Today gay people go to dating apps, no one meets by looking, by touching, by dancing to a song like they used to.”
The now-closed Le Boy was Rio’s most popular gay nightclub.
The 1970s inspired its decor, with mirrored globes, sofas, and a Studio 54 vibe. Calvin Klein, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Rupert Everett, Rihanna, and Katy Perry are among the celebrities who were seen at Le Boy. It remained open from 1992-2016, but succumbed to the economic crisis and its French owner put the property up for sale after 24 years. Another gay nightclub opened in the same place in 2024, and it is one of the few remaining in Copacabana.
As the LGBTQ establishments closed their doors, the drag queens and crossdressers who used to perform on stage had to look for other ways.
Businessman Júnior Barbosa, owner of Rio’s most notorious gay sauna, was a pioneer when he hired these artists to perform at his establishment in Copacabana. The initiative represented a new field of work for those who depended on LGBTQ nightclubs. Others, like drag queen Gabrielly Rodin, were able to reinvent themselves and migrated to straight parties and other events.
“I went to other venues, and I always had acceptance and financial return,” Rodin told the Blade.
Rodin attributes the decline of LGBTQ nightlife to the replacement of drag queens by DJs, and to the open bar that devalued the artists, as if the crowd were more interested in drinking than enjoying a performance.
LGBTQ nightlife decline is not unique to Brazil
Germany since the 1990s has seen the same transition as Brazil.
“Clubsterben” is a German expression that means “death of nightclub culture,” especially in Berlin, a previous oasis of the techno scene.
The Wilde Renate, a nightclub in a poorly maintained building, will close at the end of the year, while the Watergate closed its doors at the end of 2024 after 22 years. A report carried out in November by an organization representing Berlin’s clubs revealed that half of the 250 or so nightclubs in the German capital are at risk of closing their doors this year. Berlin’s nightlife is not at its best, and the rest of the world in general.
The Guardian reported there were 1,700 nightclubs in the U.K. in 2013; 11 years later there were only 787 left.
Another noticeable change in Brazil has been the open bar, which has increased the cost of entry, coupled with the country’s economic instability. Therefore, the death of the Berlin or Rio nightclubs is not an isolated situation, but a reality in the ever-changing world, as well as a generational change.
Against the backdrop of the Brazilian crisis, La Cueva nightclub is an exception.
It has been in business since 1964 and is Latin America’s oldest gay club. The underground nightclub in Copacabana has withstood the dictatorship of the 1960s and 1970s, the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, the economic crises of the 1990s. Its longevity may be associated with its strictly mature audience (on average over 55) who still prefer eye-to-eye contact and dancing to flashbacks, and are probably not so adept at virtual media.
What is the gay scene’s future?
For many, the night has lost its shine, it has become empty. Interaction between people seems to have lost a bit of its meaning. They’re not disconnected from the virtual world, even when they are with friends in bars. They’re always with their eyes fixed on their cell phone, sometimes forgetting about the real world. Going to a club in the hope of not only dancing, but also meeting someone interesting, having a relationship, and perhaps a night of sex, has become too slow-paced.
“What is the future of the gay nightlife scene for drag queens and trans women, who in the past performed several times a night in nightclubs? Opinions differ.
“The future of LGBTQ+ artists in Rio is tragic, nowadays, we’re working for very low fees, because many are doing shows for free,” complains Rawaxi.
Rodin is more confident.
“Today we can occupy all spaces and not just the ‘ghettos,’ we are renewing ourselves, being seen by everyone, we can’t just accept the bubble that society forces us to live in,” they said.
Rochard doesn’t have the same optimism.
“I don’t see a future in Brazil as far as nightlife is concerned, the clubs need to reinvent themselves, they won’t cease to exist; but they won’t be the same as in the past, but our drag queen culture will never end,” she said.
Brazil
Trailblazing trans Brazilian lawmaker refuses to set foot in Trump’s America
Erika Hilton says US president’s rhetoric fuels global wave of transphobic violence
Erika Hilton, the first Black transgender woman elected to the Brazilian Congress, in April 2025 prepared to speak at the annual Brazil Conference at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Mass.
As part of her official diplomatic duties, Hilton required a diplomatic visa to enter the U.S. However, the U.S. Embassy in Brasília issued the document with a glaring discrepancy: the congresswoman’s gender was listed as “male,” directly contradicting her official Brazilian identification, which legally recognizes her gender as “female.”
Hilton in response canceled her participation in the conference and filed a formal report with the United Nations, characterizing the incident as a violation of the Brazilian state’s diplomatic prerogatives and an act of institutional transphobia. The Brazilian Foreign Ministry last month issued a new diplomatic passport to the congresswoman in an act of symbolic reparation, a move intended to reaffirm her official status and legal identity in the wake of the U.S. embassy’s actions.
Despite the restorative gesture from the Brazilian government, Hilton told the Washington Blade that she has no intention of entering the U.S. in the near future — at least not while President Donald Trump remains in the White House.
“I am afraid of what might happen to someone like me under an administration like Donald Trump’s,” Hilton said. “It is an authoritarian, anti-democratic government that has no respect for international law.”
“We’ve seen, for example, how ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) acted with extreme violence against people who held tourist visas and were simply visiting the country,” she added. “There is a deep-seated fear of how people are treated by immigration authorities and law enforcement. All of this is terrifying, and it has convinced me that I should not set foot in the United States as long as a fascist government is in power.”
While her travel to the U.S. remains on hold, the congresswoman has been exceptionally active in Brazil.
Hilton last month made history once again by becoming the first trans woman elected to chair the Chamber of Deputies’ Commission on the Defense of Women’s Rights. This appointment marks the first time a trans person has led a standing committee in the Brazilian Congress — the latest milestone in a career defined by its pioneering spirit.
“This is a milestone in my story. It’s a milestone for that dreamy young girl who, at 14, was forced into sex work on a street corner to survive, and who today returns to make peace with her past. But even from where I stand now, I am looking back and pointing toward those who are still out there on those street corners, to remind them: we are capable of so much more. We are capable of building something far greater than the limited spaces that hatred and discrimination have reserved for us,” she told the Blade.
Erika Hilton speaks at a rally for now President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in São Paulo on Oct. 5, 2022. She was elected to the Brazilian Congress two days earlier. (Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
Unlike the Congressional Caucus for Women’s Issues in the U.S., which functions primarily as a platform for advocacy and lobbying, Brazil’s Commission on the Defense of Women’s Rights wields significant institutional power. Within the Brazilian legislative system, this body holds “conclusive authority,” a specialized power that allows it to bypass the general floor of the Chamber of Deputies. If the commission approves a bill, it can be sent directly to the Senate for a vote, bypassing a full house plenary session.
Beyond this autonomy, the commission possesses what is effectively a pocket veto: if it rejects a proposal on constitutional grounds or deems it detrimental to women’s protections, the bill is shelved immediately. This powerful committee has been the primary vehicle for landmark legislation, including the Equal Pay Act (Law 14,611/23) and critical laws targeting the political harassment of women.
Defining womanhood beyond biology
Hilton emphasizes that her election as chair of the Women’s Rights Commission was no easy feat, but a grueling struggle. The battle began within her own party, as she worked to convince colleagues that she was not only a viable candidate but an essential one.
The hostility intensified significantly following her nomination.
Far-right conservative sectors orchestrated what the congresswoman denounced as a systematic, sponsored wave of attacks that transcended social media, spilling into the very halls of Congress. The rhetoric her opponents used leaned heavily on biological determinism — a strategy that attempts to reduce womanhood to reproductive functions or genetic characteristics.
Hilton’s election on March 11 laid bare a deeply fractured Congress.
With 11 votes in her favor and 10 lawmakers casting blank ballots, the result served as an explicit form of protest. In the context of these internal elections, the blank votes did not signal indecision; rather, they represented a calculated attempt by the opposition to strip the incoming chair of her political legitimacy. It was a clear warning that Hilton will face fierce institutional resistance throughout her tenure — a reality that has already manifested during her first weeks at the helm of the commission.
Hilton in her inaugural address promised an inclusive leadership.
“Here we will address the issues facing poor women, Black women, trans women, cis women, mothers, and breastfeeding women. All of them, without exception,” she said.
However, the most resonant moment of her speech was her historic tribute to Sojourner Truth, the Black abolitionist and human rights activist who, in 1851, delivered the iconic “Ain’t I a Woman?” speech at a women’s rights convention in the U.S. Paraphrasing Truth, Hilton argues that contemporary transphobia is deeply rooted in 19th century racism.
“Truth was a cisgender woman and a mother, but in that context, her biology did not grant her legitimacy or the right to challenge the status quo of womanhood because of her race. If we broaden our perspective, we must recall the eugenicist pseudo-science that deemed Black people inferior based on skull measurements, and the brutal gynecological experiments performed on enslaved women. Those women were not considered ‘women’ by the society of that era either,” Hilton told the Blade, explaining the historical framework behind her address.
“We, as trans women and travestis, are the targets of this historical moment,” she added. “I invoked Truth’s words to remind everyone that we are all victims of the same systemic oppression and the same denial of our right to our own identity — this did not start with us. Yesterday, she was targeted because of the color of her skin; today, I am targeted because of my body’s anatomy.”
Hilton concluded her inaugural address by reaffirming that her chairmanship will bring visibility to the identities that the commission has historically neglected. She emphasized that the trans struggle is a matter of survival in a country that leads the world in rates of violence against this community.
“We no longer accept being rendered invisible; we no longer accept having our identities violated. We refuse to live in a country that leads the world in killing us, by shooting us in the face, ripping out our hearts, and dragging us through the streets,” she declared.
Since Hilton became chair, committee sessions have been marked by an atmosphere of turmoil and legislative gridlock — a dire situation for a country that, over the past year, has set records for femicides. In Brazil, femicide is a specific legal classification for the murder of women motivated by gender, designed to ensure harsher criminal penalties.
Opposition lawmakers, who rarely attended commission sessions before Hilton’s election, have begun showing up en masse to coordinate attacks against her, prioritizing obstructionism over the urgent need to address gender-based violence.
Tensions reached a fever pitch on April 8 when right-wing Congresswoman Rosana Valle threatened Hilton by invoking one of the country’s most significant legal provisions: the Maria da Penha Law. Recognized by the United Nations as one of the most progressive pieces of legislation in the world, the statute was designed specifically to protect women from domestic and family violence.
In a move that Hilton described as “a mockery,” Valle stated that she would invoke the law against the committee chair herself if Hilton were ever to confront her, claiming that her colleague possessed “the strength of a man.”
“At the end of the day, their goal is to prevent me from delivering results. They work to stall the agenda so they can later claim, ‘Look, she didn’t do anything for women; she didn’t discuss anything relevant.’ It is not a lack of will on my part; it is a coordinated effort to block progress. But I am already developing strategies to overcome this roadblock. We are going to move forward and get the projects that really matter off the ground,” Hilton told the Blade.
The MAGA playbook in Brazil
Transphobia is nothing new in Brazil.
For years, the country has consistently ranked as the deadliest in the world for trans people; in 2024, according to the National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals (ANTRA), 122 fatalities were recorded. However, the vitriol appearing on social media following Hilton’s election as chair of the women’s commission is strikingly familiar. The arguments and tactics being deployed in Brazil are mirror images of the far-right playbook currently being used in the U.S.
Brazilian lawmakers have deliberately adopted strategies from the “culture wars” that fuel the MAGA movement. This includes stoking moral panic over bathroom access, pathologizing gender identities, and attempting to bar transgender women from competitive sports.
For Hilton, Trump is the catalyst.
“When a government with the reach and power of the United States uses state institutions to roll back rights, it creates a ripple effect that fuels violence worldwide. It feels as if our historic achievements are being systematically dismantled,” said Hilton.
“Since the day after the inauguration, the Trump administration has signed executive orders denying basic rights and issued official statements that dehumanize the transgender community, branding us as ‘enemies of society,’” she added. “The U.S. government legitimizes, incites, and encourages the hatred directed at a group that is already marginalized. In doing so, it fuels that hatred further, as it takes such rhetoric out of the shadows of anonymity and places it in the mouth of the president of a global superpower.”
Preserving hard-won rights
Brazilians in October will head to the polls for general elections, a high-stakes cycle that will decide the presidency and the makeup of the legislature.
Hilton predicts an election season marked by escalating violence and targeted attacks against transgender people. She also notes the current global climate demands an even greater mobilization to defend the hard-won rights secured by the LGBTQ community.
“The situation is too volatile and turbulent for us to find even a glimmer of opportunity to establish new rights,” Hilton told the Blade. “For now, we must focus on safeguarding our existing protections so that, further down the road, we have the chance to secure new victories. History is cyclical. First comes a great wave of violence, repression, and attack. But following that, come the waves of victory.”
Hilton, meanwhile, will remain on the front lines of this battlefield, stepping into a spotlight that she knows brings less glory than it does pain and violence. But that does not seem to weigh on her.
“In a sense, life’s cruelty has been kind to me,” Hilton reflects. “By forcing me to experience that cruelty when I was still a child, it was kind enough to teach me how to survive it. I am immune now, and therefore, I am prepared to face these obstacles.”
Brazil
Black transgender singer from Brazil wins three Latin Grammy Awards
Liniker performed at Las Vegas ceremony
A Black transgender singer and songwriter from Brazil on Nov. 13 won three Latin Grammy Awards.
Liniker, who is from Araraquara, a city in São Paulo State, won for Best Portuguese Language Song for her song “Veludo Marrom,” Best Portuguese-Language Urban Performance for her song “Caju” from her sophomore album of the same title, and Best Portuguese Language Contemporary Pop Album for “Caju.”
She accepted the awards during the Latin Grammy Awards ceremony that took place in Las Vegas. Liniker also performed.
“I’ve been writing since I was 16. And writing, and poetry, have been my greatest form of existence. It’s where I find myself; where I celebrate so many things I experience,” said Liniker as she accepted her first Latin Grammy on Nov. 13. “And being a composer … Being a trans composer in Brazil — a country that kills us — is extremely difficult.”
Liniker in 2022 became the first openly trans woman to win a Latin Grammy.
Brazil
Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro convicted of attempted coup
Supporters stormed Congress, Supreme Court, presidential palace in 2023
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.
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