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Brazil’s election result was a disappointment for those hoping to see a first-round win for the presidential challenger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva but there were still some reasons to be cheerful for the country’s left.
Not only is Lula favourite to win the 30 October run-off – he need only increase his vote share from 48.4% to 50+1 – but diversity got a boost in a few key parliamentary races.
Two trans candidates were elected to congress for the first time in history, two Indigenous women joined them, and several of the allies who helped get Jair Bolsonaro elected four years ago were given the cold shoulder by voters.
Two of the biggest winners were the transgender candidates Erika Hilton and Duda Salabert. Both won easy election to the chamber of deputies where they promised to fight for LGBT rights.
“We are going to get off the street corners, we are going to get out of jails, we are going to get off crack corners and prostitution and start to think about public policies and legislation,” an ecstatic Hilton said. “Our mandate in Brasília will be more organised, more committed and closer to people.
“Maybe we can’t celebrate the way we wanted to and deserved to – but we can celebrate changes in congress and we will shed blood so that in the second round we can really celebrate.
