Australian campaigners against trans activist ideology have welcomed a landmark decision by Brazilian courts to drop criminal charges against graphic designer Isabella Cepa for “misgendering” a powerful politician, but contrasted her win with recent adverse findings by NSW courts.
Ms Cepa in August became the first person to be given international protection from persecution for speaking against transgender ideology, after being forced to flee her country for referring to trans woman Erika Hilton, a federal MP, as a man in a social media post.
After the chief prosecutor accepted there was no specific law criminalising transphobia, a federal judge found that Ms Cepa’s comments did not amount to hate speech and that stating facts about gender was protected under freedom of expression.
“Now saying a man is a man is not a crime in Brazil, period,” Ms Cepa told The Australian.
Giggle app founder Sall Grover, who is facing penalties for refusing to allow trans woman Roxanne Tickle to join her female-only networking group, hailed the Brazilian decision but noted the sharp contrast with the approach of Australian courts.
Ms Grover pointed to the case of Kirralie Smith, founder of Binary Australia, who in August was held to have unlawfully vilified two transgender athletes playing in female sports teams and now faces a potential $200,000 penalty.
Ms Grover said Ms Smith was petrified that she and her husband would lose their house as a result of the penalties and legal costs. “If Kirralie Smith, who is the spokesperson for an advocacy group against gender ideology, if her speech in that role is not covered as political communication, then no one’s is,” she said.
As for Ms Cepa, the archiving of her case does not mean she can return to Brazil. She fears new charges may be laid against her, and she has been subjected to repeated death threats.
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