A Brazilian politician sparked controversy this week by donning blackface during a speech to express her opposition to a transgender lawmaker’s appointment as head of a women’s rights commission.

Fabiana Bolsonaro, unrelated to former President Jair Bolsonaro, serves in the São Paulo state legislative assembly. Her protest unfolded during a Wednesday plenary session following the selection of Erika Hilton—the first openly transgender woman elected to Brazil’s National Congress—as chair of the Commission for the Defense of Women’s Rights.

While addressing her peers, Bolsonaro applied dark makeup to her face and arms, questioning if this act made her ‘black.’ Her demonstration aimed to argue that transgender women do not become women merely by altering their appearance to appear more feminine.

Bolsonaro asserted that just as she cannot claim the experiences of black individuals, transgender women do not undergo the experiences of childbirth, breastfeeding, or endometriosis. Her remarks were reported by the Brazilian news outlet G1.

She used the makeup stunt to prove that transgender women are not women when they alter their appearance to look more feminine.

Bolsonaro also said just as she doesn’t live the struggles of black people, transgender women don’t experience childbirth, breastfeeding or endometriosis, according to Brazilian news outlet G1.

According to Folha de São Paulo, another Brazilian newspaper, Bolsonaro’s speech was interrupted by lawmaker Monica Seixas, a member of the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL).

Seixas accused her colleague of transphobia and racism, then requested an immediate end to the session. Bolsonaro was allowed to keep speaking.

On Wednesday, Brazilian politician Fabiana Bolsonaro, who is not related to former President Jair Bolsonaro, put dark makeup on her face and arms to protest a transgender lawmaker being selected to lead a women’s rights commission

Bolsonaro’s stunt was a response to Federal Deputy Erika Hilton – the first openly trans woman elected to Brazil ’s National Congress – being chosen to chair the Commission for the Defense of Women’s Rights

Deputy Ediane Maria, the PSOL leader in the São Paulo state government, called what Bolsonaro did a ‘blatant crime’. 

‘It’s been 137 years since slavery ended, and we have to witness a white woman, who rarely appears in the plenary to speak in favor of women, painting herself black to attack Erika Hilton,’ she wrote on social media. ‘We are taking the appropriate measures.’ 

Seixas filed a police report against Bolsonaro for racial discrimination, while other lawmakers filed a criminal complaint with federal prosecutors.

Bolsonaro denied putting on blackface and said what she did was out of respect for black people.

Brazil has laws against racism, leading some to say Bolsonaro could face prosecution – and there is precedent for investigating politicians over racist acts.

There is an open probe into Federal Deputy Bia Kicis for posting a video to social media in 2021 that depicted two former politicians with their faces digitally painted black. 

Because Kicis enjoys parliamentary immunity as a sitting politician, the case against her has not gone anywhere.

For almost four years, Fabiana Bolsonaro has shared a last name with Jair Bolsonaro, who was sentenced last year to 27 years in prison after he was found guilty of orchestrating a coup to keep himself in power after losing the 2022 election.

A member of São Paulo state’s legislative assembly, Bolsonaro argued that if she isn’t black with all this makeup, then transgender women shouldn’t be considered women when they alter their appearance

Brazil has laws against racism. Federal Deputy Bia Kicis (pictured) is currently under investigation for posting a video in 2021 that depicted two former politicians with their faces digitally painted black

Fabiana Bolsonaro holds up a picture of Jair Bolsonaro. She is not related to Bolsonaro but changed her last name to his in 2022 as a show of support. Her last name was previously Barroso

Ahead of that election, she changed her last name to Bolsonaro as a way to declare her support for him. 

Previously, her name was Fabiana Barroso. She is the daughter of Adilson Barroso, a career politician who has been a sitting federal deputy since February 2023.

When she changed her last name, she simultaneously switched her race from ‘white’ to ‘brown’. Unlike her protest this week, her change in racial identity wasn’t necessarily a stunt to prove a point.

Brazil’s government adopted a rule in 2021 that increases the amount of public funds a political party gets based on the total votes cast for candidates who identify as black or female.

This rule, which counts those specific votes double when calculating a party’s share of federal funds, will remain in effect until 2030 to further incentivize parties to run diverse candidates.

Bolsonaro was far from the only one to switch how they identified to take advantage of this rule. 

One report found that nine out of every 100 candidates who ran in the 2022 elections changed their self-declared ethnicity from what it was in 2020.