Brazil Elects First Indigenous Woman and Transgender to Congress

For the first time in its history, Brazil elected an indigenous woman and a transgender woman to the lower house of Congress.

By Nelson Belen - October 10, 2018

By Nelson Belen, Contributing Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Though presidential candidates Jair Bolsonaro and Fernando Haddad dominated Brazil’s post-election headlines, two traditionally disenfranchised groups earned hard-fought victories on Sunday as Brazil elected its first-ever indigenous woman and transgender to Congress.

With more than eight thousand votes, Joênia Wapichana, a lawyer from the the northern state of Roraima, became the first indigenous woman to be elected to the Chamber of Deputies, Brazil’s lower house of Congress.

“Everybody has a mission in life. Mine is to defend indigenous collective rights,” wrote Wapichana on her Instagram account.

More:
https://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-politics/brazil-elects-first-indigenous-woman-and-transgender-to-congress/