A March in Common: Transmasculine Street Mobilization in São Paulo, Brazil

Abstract Book of the 7th International Conference on Gender Studies and Sexuality

Year: 2026

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A March in Common: Transmasculine Street Mobilization in São Paulo, Brazil

Luke Ribeiro Mazzei França Barros, Diego Madi Dias

ABSTRACT:

This paper examines the public demonstrations through which the São Paulo Transmasculine March — the first transmasculine march worldwide — has been constructing new forms of activism, personal belonging, and collective care. Open and horizontal assemblies held throughout the year allow this event to be self-managed by commissions centered on transmasculine leadership, while fostering broader political alliances. Drawing on an immersive ethnographic approach, this study follows the planning meetings preceding the event, accounts for all mediated exchanges, and ultimately takes part in the street occupation through participant observation. This Master’s research project on transmasculine activism and mental health addresses the following questions: How does collective work produce social meanings, interpersonal bonds, and political demands? How does political activity relate to mental health outcomes and the occurrence of “social suffering” — internal pain rooted in navigating a transphobic external world? Empirical data will be generated through fieldnotes on collective organizing processes, public advocacy actions, and documents accumulated from activist organizations over the past three years. An online questionnaire and focus groups contrasting activist and non-activist participants will also be employed, with attention to experiences of violence, suffering, and access to comprehensive healthcare. These additional methodological approaches will only be briefly outlined here, given the time constraints of the present communication. By foregrounding how activism constitutes subjects of rights, this communication contributes both methodologically and politically to debates on masculinities in the plural, the role of social movements, and diverse pathways to care in the Brazilian context, with particular focus on its largest metropolis.

Keywords: activism; Brazil; ethnography; social movements; transmasculinities.