The year was 1983, the country was heading towards the end of the military dictatorship and towards re-democratization, but an act of censorship by the owners of Ferro's Bar triggered a lesbian uprising, forever marking the date of August 19th.
ferro's bar
I inaugurated in 1961 on Rua Martinho Prado in downtown São Paulo, it was mostly attended by women: journalists, intellectuals, militants, prostitutes from the outskirts, and the LGBT public in general. From 1967, the bar began to be occupied by lesbians, becoming a meeting point and political discussions.
Facade of Ferro's Bar in São Paulo.
ChanacomChana
The first lesbian news publication in Brazil, it was independently produced by the activists of the Grupo de Ação Lésbica Feminista (GALF, 1981-1990) and circulated between 1981 and 1987 in the bars of São Paulo.
The lesbian activists went to Ferro's to sell the paper. On July 23, 1983, in one of these actions, the owner of Ferro's Bar had the GALF activists expelled, alleging that they harassed customers with their interventions and the sale of the newspaper. The doorman acted violently, which generated outrage and helped to mobilize an action front against the activists entering the bar.
Rosely Roth holding a copy of the serial Chanacomchana
Then, on August 19 of that year, the GALF militants, together with other feminist, gay, political and human rights activist groups sympathetic to the lesbian cause, mobilized and organized a protest against oppression and for an end to arbitrary evictions. and recurrent violence. The event became known as the “Brazilian Lesbian Stonewall”, in reference to the historic rebellion of the LGBT community that took place in the USA in 1969. The date of the uprising - in honor of Rosely Roth, a pioneer and great articulator of the Brazilian lesbian movement - became of Lesbian Pride, approved by the Legislative Assembly of the State of São Paulo in June 2008.
August 19th is Lesbian Pride Day.
Rosely Roth was a lesbian and feminist activist in the Brazilian Homosexual Movement (MHB). Graduated in Philosophy and Anthropology, she worked directly in the feminist movement and in the MHB. In 1981, alongside Miriam Martinho, he founded GALF. Together they led the protest known as Levante do Ferro's Bar, the first lesbian demonstration against prejudice and discrimination in Brazil.
Lesbian Feminist Action Group enters the irons bar to sell the newspaper Chanacomchana on August 19, 1983
Women in the 1980s were a spearhead in the resistance against the Brazilian military dictatorship, just as many lesbian women are currently fighting. Lesbian movements have long fought against repression, discrimination and oppression. They fight for the right to be who they are, to love other women and to get rid of stereotypes, straight male fetishes and the sexualization of their bodies. We must look at our history, learn from it and think of strategies that promote more guarantees of rights and public policies for all women.
Rosely Roth's historic moment on the Hebe Camargo program on 05/25/1985
The lesbian movement exists and resists through the memories of those who preceded us and did not lower their heads to what patriarchy imposes. Recovering this is important for our self-assertion as political subjects, so that we can learn from the lessons of the past and move forward in our tasks and struggles.
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Fonte Coturno de Vênus - Feminist, anti-racist, anti-LGBTIphobic, anti-capacitist association of the Federal District. This information makes up Alyssa Volpini 's TCC with the title: ASSEMBLING THE IRON'S BAR - THE RIGHT TO LESBIAN MEMORY IN BRAZIL
