Lockdown by Drauzio Varella

Author:Drauzio Varella
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9781849838665
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Transvestites

In the beginning, with the transvestites, I had a problem with their identity. A man with breasts and delicate gestures whose medical record had him as Raimundo da Silva, but whom everyone called Loreta, would sit before my desk. As a doctor, how was I to address this person? Raimundo, take this medicine, or should it have been Loreta, dear?

I quickly realised that Loreta was the right choice. Treating them as women didn’t offend them; much to the contrary.

Transvestites live their lives on the margins of Brazilian society. They all come from the poorer classes, and when they go out at night, with their large breasts and tight skirts, they are automatically considered dangerous, regardless of what they have done. When they are arrested, they are taken to police stations, where the district chiefs try to place them in special cells, but when there isn’t room, what can they do? Squashed among men, in a situation in which many a brave man is at risk, curiously, transvestites find strength in their female fragility and command respect.

In the Casa de Detenção, most lived on the fourth floor of Pavilion Five, but there were others scattered throughout the prison. Things were not all rosy among them; they would fight and bitch about one other, but their survival instinct brought them together in the face of danger.

Old Jeremias said that the prison used to be different: ‘There were less trannies and more fags.’ He remembered a long-haired transvestite known as Índia who used to do the nails of the director general – the feared, iron-fisted colonel. ‘She was beautiful. When her sister came to visit, you couldn’t tell ‘em apart.’ When younger inmates asked, and only then, Jeremias, a survivor of many conflicts, would give them the following advice: ‘If you’re walkin’ along in the gallery and you see a faggot comin’, you’d best keep your head down. I’ve seen many a man die ‘cause someone said he was eyein’ up someone else’s faggot.’

He was right, the husbands were jealous. Prison wives never circulated through the galleries and only went down to the courtyard accompanied. In order to marry, the husband had to be in a good financial position, because it was up to him to support the household, while she had to be submissive to the provider. Some disapproved of it in a veiled manner, but this kind of relationship was socially respected.

The passive partner wasn’t considered a male. In the surveys we conducted, it wasn’t enough for us to ask if they had homosexual relations. We had to add: what about with a prison wife?

Before intimate visits were instituted, homosexuality was prolific. I once told a toothless thief that he had tested positive for AIDS and asked him if he had ever shot up drugs in the past. ‘Never,’ he answered. ‘I got this thing shagging prison ass. Lots of ass, Doctor!’

Single transvestites could move about among the inmates without danger, as long as they knew their place. In the event

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