Me, transvestite

I, Transvestite is the biography of transvestite and activist Luísa Marilac, co-written with Nana Queiroz, author of Prisoners Who Menstruate .

Luísa Marilac was born in Minas Gerais and came out as transgender at age 17. In addition to the traditional traumas associated with gender transition in a conservative, lower-class family, she was sexually abused as a child, stabbed seven times at age 16, a victim of sex trafficking in Europe before she was 20, prostituted herself, was raped, and arrested more than once. Resilient, she rebounded, reinvented herself, experienced great loves and great disappointments, welcomed transgender people as daughters and friends, lost many others to drugs, AIDS, brutal gender-based violence, and pimping, and rebuilt her life more than once.

In "Eu, travesti ," Luísa Marilac recounts comical and tragic episodes, controversial relationships, and life-changing encounters. She rose to fame after a video of hers went viral on YouTube, featuring the catchphrase "And they said I was in the worst situation," but she would soon discover that instant celebrity doesn't only bring good things.

In a country where many transvestites rely on prostitution as their only means of earning a living and don't even reach the age of 40, Luísa Marilac tells her story, filled with episodes of pain, betrayal, and loss, but also of overcoming, strength, and transforming suffering into energy to fight for change in the world for women born like her—with a "piece of rump steak between their legs," as she likes to joke. A transvestite activist, she works to combat prejudice with humor and frank dialogue—her YouTube channel, her main form of communication with her audience, has over 80,000 subscribers.

With award-winning journalist and author Nana Queiroz, Eu, travesti builds a four-handed, visceral and poetic account of Marilac's trajectory, dedicated “to all the transvestites who never lived to tell their stories.”