Brazil holds a grim record: it ranks first worldwide in the number of murders of transgender people. A report released in late January 2021 by Antra (National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals) found that 175 travestis and transsexual people were murdered in 2020, three times the number recorded in Mexico, the second-highest country on the list, and almost six times the number of murders registered in the United States. According to Antra estimates, prostitution is the main source of income for 90% of transgender people in Brazil.

These marginalized bodies, exploited and simultaneously rejected by society, fortunately find spaces of support, solidarity, and self-expression. One of the most significant is Slam Marginália, a project founded in São Paulo that, since 2018, has organized a poetry competition specifically for transgender and non-binary people. The slam takes place on the first Thursday of every month in the city center, in front of the São Bento Monastery, an iconic landmark in São Paulo’s urban culture. Since the 1980s, the area has been a meeting point for young people from the outskirts who gathered to rap, create graffiti, and dance breakdance.

From the rap battles of the 1980s to today’s poetry contests, Slam Marginália is a competition in which participants perform their own verses, challenge one another, and are judged by a panel selected from the audience. What makes this slam distinctive is that both the poets and the judges are exclusively transgender and non-binary people. The poems are often autobiographical, exploring experiences of transition, the pain associated with their circumstances, and the pride of those who choose to be themselves every day.

Beyond providing an artistic environment and a platform for self-expression, Slam Marginália is a space of exchange, mutual empowerment, affection, and resistance for marginalized bodies excluded from society. The last in-person slam took place in March 2020, shortly before the pandemic spread widely across Brazil. Since then, several online editions have been held.