{{Short description|Brazilian travesti activist}}{{Infobox person | image = Fotos produzidas pelo Senado (35118778242).jpg | birth_date = April 16, 1966 | birth_place = Pedreiras, Maranhão | citizenship = Brazilian | occupation = Activist }} '''Keila Simpson''' (Pedreiras, born in 1965 or 1966) is an LGBTQ activist considered one of the most important in Brazil.<ref name="marieclaire">{{Cite web |date=15 December 2022 |title=Keila Simpson se torna 1ª travesti Doutora Honoris Causa do Brasil: ‘Apenas o início’ |url=https://revistamarieclaire.globo.com/retratos/noticia/2022/12/keila-simpson-e-a-1a-travesti-a-ser-doutora-honoris-causa-apenas-o-inicio.ghtml |access-date=17 December 2025 |website=Marie Claire |language=pt-br}}</ref> In 1998, she founded the Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais. She is the first travesti to be awarded an honorary doctorate in Brazil.<ref name="marieclaire" />
== Career == Born in Pedreiras, Maranhão, Keila came out at the age of 14. Until the 1980s, she worked as a domestic servant in Teresina, the year she came into contact with prostitution. Over the years, she also lived in Recife, Pernambuco, and Salvador, Bahia, where she became more familiar with the transgender community.<ref name="marieclaire" />
In 1991, she met the founder of the Grupo Gay da Bahia, Luiz Mott. She began her activism in earnest in 1995, when she created the Associação de Travestis de Salvador, at the height of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. She created the Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais three years later, which was registered as a legal entity in 2002. Currently, it is one of the most important within the movement.<ref name="marieclaire" /> On 29 January 2004, she was part of the group of transsexual and transvestite activists and leaders who launched the "Travesti e Respeito" ({{Literal translation|Travesti and Respect}}) campaign in the National Congress in Brasília, an unprecedented partnership with the federal government via the Ministry of Health. The act became a landmark in the history of the movement, and the date was chosen as the {{Interlanguage link|National Day of Trans Visibility (Brazil)|lt=National Day of Trans Visibility|pt|Dia Nacional da Visibilidade Trans}} to annually commemorate the achievements and new demands of this population.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |last2= |date=27 January 2023 |title=“Nós existimos e somos importantes”, enfatiza Keila Simpson, presidenta da Antra |url=https://catarinas.info/nos-existimos-e-somos-importantes-enfatiza-keila-simpson-presidenta-da-antra/ |access-date=17 December 2025 |language=pt-BR}}</ref>
Keila also served as vice-president of the first organization to represent the LGBTQ population in Brazil, the Associação Brasileira de Lésbicas, Gays, Bissexuais, Travestis, Transexuais e Intersexos (ABGLT); and coordinated the Center for the Promotion and Defense of LGBT Rights (CPDD LGBT), which receives complaints of violations of the rights of the LGBTQ population in Bahia. In 2013, she served as president of the Conselho Nacional de Combate à Discriminação, receiving the National Human Rights Award that same year from then-President Dilma Rousseff for her services to the LGBTQ community in Brazil.<ref name="marieclaire" />
In April 2022, Keila joined the executive board of the Brazilian Association of Non-Governmental Organizations (Abong) to represent Bahia and Sergipe.<ref name="marieclaire" /> In May, she was detained upon arrival at Mexico City airport for not having her personal documents rectified (corrected after her gender transition). She was to participate in the Abong World Social Forum, where she would represent Brazil. According to her, "They deported me for being trans, not for my name."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cetrone |first=Camila |date=2 May 2022 |title=“Me deportaram por ser trans, não pelo meu nome”, diz Keila Simpson |url=https://queer.ig.com.br/2022-05-02/keila-simpson-presidente-antra-deportada-mexico.html |access-date=17 December 2025 |website=iG |language=pt-BR}}</ref> In December, she became the first transvestite to receive an Honorary Doctorate in the country from the Rio de Janeiro State University (UERJ), also being the first transgender person to receive the title in her lifetime.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Keila Simpson é a primeira travesti nomeada Doutora Honoris Causa no Brasil |url=https://cultura.uol.com.br/noticias/56538_keila-simpson-e-primeira-travesti-nomeada-doutora-honoris-causa-no-brasil.html |access-date=17 December 2025 |website=TV Cultura |language=pt-br}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Minas |first=Estado de |date=31 March 2023 |title=Conheça 11 lideranças trans brasileiras para se inspirar |url=https://www.em.com.br/app/noticia/diversidade/2023/03/31/noticia-diversidade,1476044/conheca-11-liderancas-trans-brasileiras-para-se-inspirar.shtml |access-date=17 December 2025 |website=Estado de Minas |language=pt-BR}}</ref>
On 20 June 2023, the Salvador City Council awarded her the title of ''Soteropolitan Citizen'' ({{Langx|pt-br|Cidadã Soteropolitana}}) due to her contributions to the city, being the first transgender woman to receive this honor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Bahia |first=Fulvio |date=16 June 2023 |title=Keila Simpson será a primeira Travesti a receber título de Cidadã Soteropolitana pela Câmara Municipal de Salvador |url=https://cadernobaiano.com.br/keila-simpson-sera-a-primeira-travesti-a-receber-titulo-de-cidada-soteropolitana-pela-camara-municipal-de-salvador/ |access-date=17 December 2025 |website=Caderno Baiano |language=pt-BR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Keila Simpson vai receber Título de Cidadã de Salvador |url=https://www.cms.ba.gov.brnoticias/19-06-2023-keila-simpson-vai-receber-titulo-de-cidada-de-salvador |access-date=17 December 2025 |website=Camara Municipal de Salvador |language=pt-br}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=iBahia |date=21 June 2023 |title=Keila Simpson é 1ª mulher trans a receber título de cidadã de Salvador |url=https://www.ibahia.com/fervodascores/keila-simpson-e-1-mulher-trans-a-receber-titulo-de-cidada-de-salvador-296470 |access-date=17 December 2025 |website=iBahia |language=pt-br}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}} Category:1966 births Category:Brazilian transgender women Category:Transgender rights activists Category:Brazilian LGBTQ rights activists Category:Living people Category:20th-century Brazilian LGBTQ people Category:21st-century Brazilian LGBTQ people Category:People from Pedreiras, Maranhão Category:20th-century Brazilian women Category:21st-century Brazilian women