The term transvestite is saturated with prejudiced images and rarely does any media present a positive image of these individuals . We can easily say that they are stigmatized in general and in no place is this worse than in Brazil.
The transvestite only wants what any other free human being wants , the rights allowed to any free citizen. They want to be able to live a dignified life of their choosing with the need to turn to prostitution for their only form of employment. They want to be entitled to health care , participation in civic duties and to be respected for their diversity.
In almost all of the media reports we see with respect to transvestites we rarely see even a single sentence explaining why they have chosen to be a transvestite or how hard their day to day lives are due to their choices of individuality. There is never any question about the violence , abuse and the other factors that lead them to suffer at the hands of exploitation and prostitution.
Society does not offer any incentives to transvestites to better their lives because to be a transvestite is not” socially” correct.
Barry Wolfe, founder of SOS Dignity have been working for over a year with transvestites with AIDs and other illnesses in hospitals as well as providing probono legal service and counsel to them when needed. SOS Dignity is 100 % volunteer based and without any outside funding.
Even facing this enormous burden of expense Barry never gives up and only tries to expand the base of support that he can offer to this ostracized community, he wants them to have a real network of refuge that they can count on. This would include registering those transvestites in need of immediate assistance and then refer them to professionals that will help them in areas of physical and mental health , social and human rights and to have a general sage community transformed from the hell that they currently have. On the spot , immediate services will be provide , such as Ambulance and Help Line as well as long term assistance by professionals in their respective areas.
SOS Dignity is now seeking financial assistance from the international community , professional and personal who would be willing to collaborate with the personal growth and improved living conditions of Brazilian transvestites.
