Dani Balbi

Balbi works as a professor of communication, Brazilian reality and cinema at the School of Communication at UFRJ.^[1]

An activist from the age of 14, when she joined efforts to protect free education, which was under threat, Balbi joined the Communist Party at the age of 16 and later became part of the national leadership of the party. She has participated in student struggles, the black movement and women's movements and is a strong supporter of LGBT+ rights and public education.^[1][3]

In 2022 she was elected to the Rio de Janeiro legislative assembly (Alerj), becoming the first transsexual deputy in the history of the assembly, winning 0.76% of the valid votes. In the assembly, she was elected as president of the Labour, Legislation and Social Security Committee.^[4] She works closely with the Central dos Trabalhadores e Trabalhadoras do Brasil (CTB), a national labour union. Among legislation she has proposed is that 3% of places in the state's universities should be set aside for the transsexual and transvestite population. On 28 June 2023, International LGBTQIA+ Pride Day, the state assembly building was lit with the Rainbow Flag on her initiative. One of her main concerns is to address the high level of violence against transgender people, with around 130 murders being reported in 2022.^[5][6][7]

In October 2023 she was unanimously chosen as the PCdoB candidate for the Rio de Janeiro mayoral election in October 2024, where she was expected to be the only woman in the race.^[3][8]