Throughout the month of February, the Faculty of Education at the State University of Campinas (FE-Unicamp) carried out the project "Beyond Gender: Promoting the Inclusion of Transgender and Transvestite People at the University," an initiative developed in partnership with the Trans Consciousness Center (NCT/Unicamp) and made possible by the Institutional Project Support Program (PAPI) 2026 grant. Aimed at faculty and staff of the unit, the training cycle consolidated a critical and practical training agenda around gender diversity, with developments that point towards the construction of a broader institutional policy of acceptance and retention.
The training was structured in six meetings held in the Maurício Tragtenberg Auditorium, combining interactive presentations, panel discussions, case studies, and practical activities. The first module addressed the fundamentals of gender and sexuality diversity, differentiating concepts such as biological sex, gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation, as well as discussing cisnormativity and heteronormativity. In subsequent meetings, the training delved into the reality of transgender and transvestite students and staff at the university, addressing barriers to access and retention, use of restrooms, situations of transphobia, and the right to a chosen name, guaranteed by Federal Decree No. 8.727/2016. Strategies for confronting discrimination and welcoming practices were developed through the collective construction of protocols and the creation of a best practices guide for the daily work of secretariats, coordination offices, classrooms, and other academic and institutional spaces.
The activities were led by members of NCT/Unicamp and speakers with experience in defending human rights and diversity. Paris Universe, a founding member of the Nucleus and coordinator of the so-called "Transvestite Pedagogy," highlighted that the project stems from a situated experience: "As a transvestite, Black, and from the periphery, who uses writing as a lived experience to unlearn and re-educate spaces, I understand this training as an act of disobedience in the face of institutionalized transphobia (Evaristo, 2020; Odara, 2020)." For her, in the recent context of the implementation of public policies on trans quotas and the intensification of intolerant discourses, training becomes an indispensable mechanism to ensure academic permanence and performance. "The university needs to provide concrete instruments of support; it is not enough to guarantee formal access, it is necessary to guarantee real conditions of existence," she stated.
According to Paris, the reaction from the FE community was marked by engagement and openness to dialogue. The course methodology was designed precisely to address doubts and concerns, including reflective activities on prior knowledge, question-and-answer sessions, and panels with the participation of transgender and transvestite individuals from the university itself. The involvement of staff from other units, such as the Faculty of Physical Education, also signals an interest that extends beyond the limits of FE-Unicamp.
The closing meeting, dedicated to “Institutional Commitment and the Continuous Support Network,” summarized the lessons learned and resulted in the participatory development of sectoral action proposals. The objective is to structure a permanent plan, mapping existing resources—such as mental health services and diversity centers—and defining responsibilities in each sector. The project's scholarship recipients acted as mediators of the activities, monitored the training process, and produced records that will support a final reflective report, aimed at consolidating and potentially replicating the practices developed.
For the Faculty of Education, the initiative, which is part of its Inclusion, Diversity, and Accessibility Policy, reaffirms its commitment to radical respect for differences in all dimensions of university life. By confronting prejudices and proposing concrete mechanisms for inclusion—from the correct use of social names to the revision of forms and physical environments—the training responds to an alarming fact: in Brazil, according to the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA), the life expectancy of trans people is considerably lower than that of the general population (Benevides, 2025). “Trans citizenship cannot be a luxury item,” emphasizes Paris. “It needs to be a basic guarantee of human dignity, from the asphalt to the favela.”
Although initially aimed at the internal community of the Faculty of Education (FE), the project was conceived with a broader institutional horizon. The systematization of practices, the development of a simplified guide, and the articulation with support networks indicate a movement that can strengthen inclusion policies in other units of Unicamp. By transforming education into a collective commitment, FE contributes to the university's progress in building a democratic, safe, and truly welcoming environment—a space where diversity is not tolerated as an exception, but recognized as a structuring principle of academic life.
Learn more:
BENEVIDES, Bruna G. Report: Murders and violence against Brazilian transvestites and transsexuals in 2024Brasilia: ANTRA, 2025.
EVARISTO, Conceição et al. Writing as a lived experience and its subtexts. Writing as a lived experience: the writing of ourselves: reflections on the work of Conceição Evaristo., v. 1, p. 26-46, 2020.
FAVERO, Sofia. “Towards a Pajubarian Ethics: The Epistemological Power of Intellectual Transvestites”. Equatorial, the. vol. 7, no. 12, Jan./Jun.2020.
MOREIRA, Antonia. Constructing Memories of Other Places: Trans Heterotopia or Factory of Transvestites in the TRANSmoras Occupation at Unicamp. Electronic Journal Social Interactions, v. 8, no. 1, 2024.
ODARA, Tiffany. Pedagogy of disobedience: masquerading as educationSalvador, Devires, 2020.
PASSOS, Maria CA dos. Pedagogies of transvestismBrazilian Civilization: Pernambuco, 2022. RIBEIRO, Djamila. What is "place of speech"?. Belo Horizonte (MG): Letramento, 2017.
