Gisberta Salce (1960–2006) was a trans woman, a Brazilian immigrant who did sex work, lived with HIV/AIDS and was homeless in the city of Porto in Portugal.
In 2006, after several days of physical and sexual assaults motivated by transphobia and perpetrated by a group of 14 boys between 12 and 16 years old, she was found dead in a well, in Porto, at the age of 45.
[1] She temporarily returned to Brazil, underwent hormone replacement therapy, got silicone applied and other feminising procedures done on her face.
She started to show up at social welfare associations Migalha de Amor and Espaço Pessoa to eat, bathe and talk.
In addition to this, she had been diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, pneumonia and laryngeal candidiasis, which, according to clinical reports, caused her asthenia, anorexia, fever, anemia, breathing difficulties and myalgia.
This association, founded by La Salete Correia dos Santos, offered dinner to about a thousand homeless people, and Salce was one of them.
[1] At the end of 2005, three teenagers, Fernando, Ivo and Flávio started to get together to spray paint "graffiti" in an abandoned building in Porto, the same one Salce was living in a tent inside.
Their house was frequented "by people associated with the nightlife of Porto" and it was precisely there that Fernando's mother and her son began to have a connection with Salce.
Although contact was lost for some time between them, it was Fernando who later, at the age of 14, identified Salce in the abandoned building where he, along with his friends, were painting murals.
During these visits, Salce "told them about the health problems she suffered from", verbalized her weakness, AIDS, a syndrome "the external physical signs of which the boys were well aware of".
[1] Fernando, Ivo and Flávio spoke of "a man who 'had breasts' and 'really looked like a woman'" to colleagues at Escola Augusto César Pires de Lima and Oficina de São José, an institution under the tutelage of the Catholic Church that hosted 11 of the 14 boys who would torture and kill Gisberta, that was eventually closed after several scandals related to sexual abuse and embezzlement, in addition to the suicide of a principal in the most critical phase of the trial.
Salce started to scream from the pain and the group ran away in fear of being caught by the security guards in the parking lot that was close to the building.
When they arrived at her tent, they realized that Salce's illness had worsened due to the attacks of the previous day, preventing her even from standing up.
Lying on the floor and unable to defend herself due to her physical weakness and the number of aggressors, Salce just curled up and covered herself with the blanket, shouting "don't do this, hooligans!"
David even grabbed a wooden beam about 1.5 meters long and 20 centimeters in diameter and dropped it on Gisberta's body, striking her at stomach level.
[1] Part of the group was about to continue their routine of violence when they came across Salce lying on the floor, dressed in a nightgown and naked from the waist down, completely still.
[1] They thought Salce was dead due to the lack of an answer to their questions, the pale shade of her face and some "signs that she was not breathing, despite having placed the flame of a lighter next to her mouth".
The possibility of burial was ruled out, as the boys lacked the tools to make a hole, and setting Gisberta on fire was also impossible as they feared that the smoke might attract the attention of someone, namely the car park security guards.
It was this act that caused her death: Gisberta Salce Júnior, a trans woman, Brazilian immigrant, sex worker and homeless person, who lived with HIV, was still alive at this time, and died by drowning, a fact confirmed by her autopsy report.
[1] After serving time at the Educational Center, José António returned to his mother's house, on the south bank of the Tagus.
[4] Many of the protesters sported pictures of Salce and others displayed banners where messages such as "I am a transsexual and I do not want to be murdered", "I am not ashamed, I have reasons" and "Educating without discrimination", among others.
[5] A year after the events, Alberto Pimenta published “Indulgência Plenária”, a poem in the form of elegy that evokes the figure of Gisberta Salce.
[5] "What got me involved first was the song, 'Balada de Gisberta', composed by Pedro Abrunhosa, in the version sung by Maria Betânia", revealed Carvalhaes.
[5] In a short exchange of messages with Ípsilon, the production director for that show, Cláudia Marques, speaks of “indignation”, but also of “hope for change”.
Inventing a mother, Eduardo Gaspar first wrote a short version of the monologue “Gisberta” for actress Rita Ribeiro, who in 2013 sold out Teatro Rápido.
[5] Pão de Açúcar, the second novel by Afonso Reis Cabral, is fiction that springs from reality, the death of Gisberta Salce Júnior.
[1] The Centro Gis, responding to LGBTI populations (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex) created by Associação Plano i, opened in 2017, pays homage to Gisberta Salce Júnior, with her name.
While the Toponymy Commission initially rejected similar proposals in 2010 and 2020, a renewed petition narrowly passed in October 2023 and was subsequently approved unanimously by the Porto City Council in January 2024.
[7][8][9] Efforts to honor Gisberta Salce by naming a street after her began in 2010 with the “Viver a Rua” project, part of FITEI, the International Festival of Iberian Expression Theater.
Nine years later, actress Sara Barros Leitão led a similar initiative, encouraging audiences of her show Todos Os Dias Me Sujo De Coisas Eternas to sign a new petition.