If you are LGBTQ, at some point, you learn about the Stonewall rebellion of 1969 in New York City. It marked an important moment when American queer people fought back against police, and by extension, anti-LGBTQ discrimination and oppression. 

If I were to mention Ferro’s Bar in São Paulo, Brazil, however, it probably would not ring a bell. It was in this bar on August 19, 1983, that a Jewish woman named Rosely Roth got up on a table and protested the bar’s homophobia. Although the bar was a known gathering place for lesbian women, the bar's owners had denied their entrance. They also prohibited the sale of the zine ChanacomChana, produced by and for lesbian women, on its premises. At the time, there were very few public spaces where lesbian women could openly gather, making Ferro’s Bar especially important for distributing a lesbian publication in São Paulo.

Roth dared to challenge the open homophobia of the time—and won. The bar's owners backed down, no longer blocking lesbian women from entry and allowing the free circulation and sale of ChanacomChana. This victory is celebrated today throughout Brazil on August 19, which was declared Lesbian Visibility Day in 2003.

This was one of the first times any group of queer people publicly protested homophobia in Brazil, and fortunately, it only took one protest to result in a change of policy, thanks in part to the more than 100 protesters who turned out. In the 1980s, Brazil’s military dictatorship, police repression, and specific targeting of lesbians in São Paulo combined to create a climate of fear in queer communities throughout the country. The owners of Ferro’s Bar were no doubt shocked that Roth and the other protesters had finally fought back so vigorously.

Roth was born in the capital of São Paulo in 1959 to a secular Jewish family. Educated in both public and private Jewish schools, she identified as an atheist and an anarchist. She studied philosophy and anthropology at the Catholic University of São Paulo, and went on to co-found the lesbian advocacy and human rights organization Grupo de Ação Lésbico Feminista (Lesbian Feminist Action Group) in 1981. In addition to leading the Ferro’s Bar protest, Roth made history by being the first openly lesbian woman to appear on Brazilian television, being invited twice on the hugely popular talk show, Hebe, where she spoke about her sexuality and countered prejudices and stereotypes. Both television appearances attracted a huge amount of controversy and publicity. The Brazilian military regime threatened to shut down the talk show, and Roth lost her job.

In 1990, just a week after her 31st birthday, Roth ended her life after struggling to manage her schizophrenia. Thirty four years later, Gaavah, a Jewish LGBTQ group in Brazil, of which I am a part, helped honor her memory by installing a headstone at Roth’s grave, inscribed in Hebrew with her name, as well as the phrase: 

“Try to find me in some star, if possible in one that makes you see you are never alone”. 

In Roth’s short life, she gave so much to the Brazilian LGBTQ community and the women’s movement. Her legacy has opened many doors for future generations to be comfortable in their own skin. 

To me, honoring the memory of Rosely Roth means celebrating both her trailblazing lesbian visibility, as well as her Jewish heritage. Her life and bravery continue to inspire me. Roth´s path reminds me that even in the face of prejudice, I can choose to embrace my inner strength and rise up in small, daily acts of courage and resistance.