Her video related to Salabert’s previous efforts to secure a criminal conviction against a political opponent, conservative parliamentarian Nikolas Ferreira.
Ferreira had stated in a 2020 interview that he would continue to refer to Salabert with male pronouns, adding that he had no fear of being sued as it was a matter of biology, not merely “something I think”.
Committing “Social Racism”
However, Salabert filed a criminal complaint, citing the fact that Brazil’s Supreme Court has classified transphobia and homophobia as crimes of “social racism” since 2019.
The Supreme Court invoked a precedent on discrimination against Jewish people as falling within the definition of social racism. Under this interpretation, racism was understood as group subordination for reasons not limited to race.
While Salabert was unsuccessful in his criminal bid, he won a separate civil action in 2023, forcing Ferreira to pay 80,000 Brazilian reais ($15,500). The award was reduced on appeal to R$30,000 ($5,900).
In her video, Barreto discussed the case, with Reduxx reporting that she said it was insane that someone could be sued for “calling a man a man”. The influencer said Salabert is “a guy who says he’s a trans woman, but he’s married and has a son or daughter”.
She added, “whatever she does in her private life is not my problem”. However, Barreto rejected efforts to “impose things on us that are not real, that are a product of her imagination. By ‘her’ I mean the person, because a man is a man, a woman is a woman, and that’s it”.
House Arrest for “Marginalizing” Trans People
It was these remarks that ultimately led to her criminal conviction, with the judge ruling that it is a form of “marginalization” to refer to men who identify as female with masculine pronouns.
Barreto’s sentence will be served in the open system, which is similar to house arrest, and she must pay damages of R$20,000 ($3,800).
In Brazil, the clash between legal protections for freedom of speech and the right to self-identify one’s gender has been ongoing for almost a decade.
Conservatives and religious voices warn that legal changes and court rulings indicate that their right to freedom of expression is being curtailed.
Meanwhile, pro-trans advocates argue in favor of “bold moves” to tackle “LGBTphobia”, with many saying that Brazil is a hotspot for killings of people who identify as trans.
The issue made international headlines in 2025 when women’s rights activist Isabella Cêpa was granted refugee status in Europe after facing the possibility of a prison sentence for referring to another trans-identified politician as a man. The case was subsequently dropped after the intervention of a Supreme Court judge.
The case arose from a complaint against Cêpa from Erika Hilton, a biological male who identifies as a woman.
Male President of Women’s Rights Committee
Hilton was elected alongside Salabert to the Chamber of Deputies in 2022 and was promoted to president of the Women’s Rights Committee in March 2026.
The committee wields real political power within the Brazilian legislative system. If the committee approves a bill, it can be sent directly to the Senate for a vote, bypassing a full Chamber plenary session.
Similarly, its powers of veto are broad, meaning that if it rejects a proposal on constitutional grounds or as being detrimental to women’s protections, the bill is shelved immediately.
Following Barreto’s conviction, women’s rights advocate Clarice Saadi told Reduxx that Brazil is struggling under a wave of trans activist censorship, saying the state is “punishing people for describing reality”.
Saadi, who is a member of the women’s rights group MATRIA, said the case is the latest in a series of court decisions “imposing on society – and especially on women” the obligation to refer to men as women under threat of criminal sanction.
Barreto’s legal team says it will appeal the conviction, framing her case as a test of whether the Brazilian courts are willing to protect constitutional rights to freedom of expression, conscience, belief and religious manifestation.
