“A trans que tá na esquina pelada com droga, tá pedindo socorro. você sabia disso?”

Abstract

This ethnographically inspired dissertation investigates the life trajectory of ASTRAL (Association of Travestis, Transsexuals, and Transgender People of Goiás) and its President, Beth Fernandes, to understand how the NGO works in the development of public policies aimed at securing rights for transgender and travesti individuals in the State of Goiás, Brazil. The research follows ASTRAL-Goiás’s activities and the journey of its president, exploring how the organization provides daily support to trans women and travestis both inside and outside the prison system. The study addresses the life paths of the institution and its leader, street work involving information and prevention efforts regarding HIV/AIDS, the distribution of food baskets and hygiene items, as well as the care provided to incarcerated trans women and the challenges they face in social reintegration. The primary analytical category is the body — a body that feels, suffers, resists, and arms itself against oppression and necropolitics. The research also examines the precariousness of the prison system in providing basic conditions of dignity, such as access to healthcare, hygiene, education, and employment opportunities for this population, along with ASTRAL’s and Beth Fernandes’s efforts to secure better conditions for serving sentences. The methodology adopted was life history, through recorded interviews and field diaries. Data collection was conducted by accompanying the NGO’s daily activities and through Beth’s narratives, allowing a deep analysis of the strategies of resistance and survival employed by these women. The lack of effective public policies reinforces the conditions of subalternity imposed on bodies that subvert the binary gender order. However, the work of organizations like ASTRAL is crucial for mediating this process, providing legal, psychological, and material support. The research underscores the need to rethink prison policies for trans and travesti individuals, ensuring dignity and citizenship for this population. This study contributes to the debate on the intersectionality of gender, incarceration, and social exclusion, offering a critical analysis of the relationship between necrobiopower and dissident bodies.