Brazilian women’s rights advocate Isabela Cêpa, a feminist known online as “Feminisa,” is again facing the possibility of a 25-year prison sentence in what has become one of the most aggressive speech-related prosecutions in modern Brazil.
The charges stem from a fleeting Instagram Story video and four reposts on X; content which, under Brazil’s existing statutes, does not meet the threshold for a crime.
Nevertheless, Public has reported that the Supreme Federal Court (STF) has taken over the case, sidestepping lower court rulings and reinterpreting a racism law to apply it retroactively to speech about gender identity.
The controversy began in late 2020 after São Paulo’s municipal elections. Media headlines praised Érika Hilton as the “most-voted woman” in the city’s history.
Hilton, a biological man who identifies as a transgender woman, had just secured a city council seat.
“Then, I shared a video with my followers saying I was disappointed to hear that the most voted-for woman in São Paulo – later found out that it was in the entire country – was a man,” Reduxx quoted Cêpa as saying.
That post, according to her, triggered a campaign of harassment, loss of income, and eventually, criminal prosecution.
Despite a federal judge and even a prosecutor concluding that her speech did not violate any law and that the case should be dismissed, Brazil’s Supreme Court reasserted control.
The STF’s move comes amid its controversial reinterpretation of the 1989 Racism Law; originally written to address race, color, religion, and ethnicity, to encompass gender identity, a legal stretch that was never approved by Congress.
Cêpa says she was never formally notified of the charges. Instead, she found out in June 2022 when a journalist contacted her just before running a story on the case.
Only then did she learn that she faced up to 25 years in prison for “racial” defamation. The charges were based not only on the Instagram video but also on four X reposts about gender-related topics, all of which were submitted by Hilton’s legal team as evidence of “transphobic conduct.”
By July 2024, Cêpa had left Brazil. At the airport, eight federal agents reportedly approached her, reviewed her file with confusion, and ultimately allowed her to board a flight to Madrid.
One officer, she recalls, told her: “This is a case of political persecution. You’re not safe.” Since then, Cêpa has lived in exile, moving frequently and relying on anonymity for protection. She says her name has been flagged in airports across Brazil, effectively barring her from returning home.
The legal proceedings have been shrouded in secrecy. Although the STF blocked efforts to close the case and directed the Attorney General to open a new investigation, Cêpa and her legal team have been denied access to the case file. The lack of transparency, coupled with the STF’s dual role as both the architect of the legal interpretation and the body determining her fate, has intensified concern about due process.
Public has an interview with Cêpa here.
