BBB 22: Linn da Quebrada boosts searches about the difference between trans and transvestites

Linn da Quebrada’s participation in BBB 22 (Globo) is generating a lot of repercussion. The singer from São Paulo has a big fan base and, since joining the program, is one of the participants who generate more comments on social networks.

Lina’s presence, as she is registered and introduces herself to friends, has also moved Google searches. On the 20th, when she first set foot in the “most guarded house in the country”, she generated a spike in Google searches for the expression “difference between trans and transvestites”.

The information appears in a survey by ViU Hub, Globo’s digital social media unit. According to the survey, there was a 615% growth in this search in relation to the last 12 months. Another highlight of the report was the peak of positive mentions on Twitter about Tadeu Schmidt, in the reality show presenter, after the speech he made on the first wall, on the 25th.

But, after all, what is the difference between trans and transvestites? According to Antra (National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals), transsexuals are people who have a gender identity different from the one they were assigned at birth.

That is, it is about someone who was biologically born with a sex with which they do not identify. This may involve modifying the body’s appearance or function by surgical means, or altering clothing, speech, and other mannerisms.

Transvestites, on the other hand, for Antra, are “people who live a female gender construction, as opposed to the sex designation assigned at birth, followed by a permanent physical construction, which is identified in social, family, cultural and interpersonal life, through that identity”.

Transcendemos, an inclusion and diversity consultancy, explains that the term was considered “pejorative or associated with prostitution” for a long time. “However, currently the concept is being re-signified and has gained more political weight”, says the organization. “There are people who proudly claim that they are transvestites because of the history of the term.”

It is worth remembering that, as it is an exclusively female gender identity, the transvestite is used, not “the”, as some people mistakenly do. The term “traveco”, which Rodrigo came to use within the BBB, is also considered offensive.

Another important piece of information is that gender identity has nothing to do with sexual orientation. Both trans and cis people (those who identify with their assigned sex at birth) can be straight, gay, or bisexual.