For those unfamiliar, Cássia Eller was a Brazilian singer. It's important to underscore her significance, both during her lifetime and posthumously, particularly given the current challenges Brazil is facing. The Chamber Committee recently approved a bill that would ban same-sex marriage, a stark contrast to the approval of such marriages in 2011. Brazil stands as the world's fifth-largest country by area and the seventh most populous. LGBT individuals in Brazil make up an estimated 8.35% of the population, approximately 20,000,000 people. Surprisingly, there is no legislation in place to support gay marriage in Brazil. In fact, since 1988, Congress has failed to pass any laws aimed at protecting LGBT rights. Tragically, Brazil continues to witness the highest number of transgender people killed, and violence against the LGBT+ community remains a pressing issue. The public security apparatus remains blind to gender differences, and a shocking 11 out of 32 Brazilian states do not even collect data on instances of homophobia and transgender-related issues.
In 2021, we marked two full decades without her. In 2022, she would have turned sixty. Looking ahead to 2024, her documentary 'Cássia' (Paulo Henrique Fontenelle, 2014) will celebrate its tenth anniversary. This documentary compiles recollections from those who coexisted with her, offering a glimpse into her life's journey, featuring archive footage from her performances and personal diaries.
Cássia Eller's legacy remains profoundly relevant. She was a significant figure in the Brazilian rock scene of the 1990s, known for her versatility in exploring various musical genres, a unique vocal range, an intense stage presence and charismatic persona with her art as her major legacy to Brazilian culture. During the height of the AIDS pandemic, which caused irreparable losses in pop culture, particularly in Brazilian music, and exacerbated prejudices leading to the deaths of many in the LGBT+ community, Cássia Eller stood out. She openly identified as a bisexual woman, challenging societal norms by speaking openly about her relationships with other women, questioning monogamy and femininity, and expressing her androgynous persona, even baring her breasts on stage, spitting and touching her genitalia. She pushed boundaries in an era marked by biases. While delivering songs that gained popularity on the radio, in soap operas, and even on children's programs, Cássia Eller's career skyrocketed. In the course of 5 months during 2001, she played 95 shows. That same year, she also made a DVD and played it on MTV. Although meteoric, her journey paved the way for future lesbian artists, and she has now become a queer cult icon, with Generation Z rediscovering her. Offstage, despite her shyness and few spoken words, her actions garnered respect and visibility for the LGBT+ community during a time filled with challenges, hatred, and prejudice. Even in her passing, she fell victim to media sensationalism and fake news.
Cássia Eller was unaware of the mark she would make in Brazilian law posthumously. Her untimely death left her lifelong partner and son, who became an orphan at the time. However, her wife, Maria Eugênia, took on the responsibility of caring for their son, especially during Cássia's tours. Maria Eugênia faced a formidable legal battle to secure her right to continue raising their son, Chicão, who was just 8 years old at the time. In this custody battle, she found herself pitted against the boy's grandfather, Altair Eller, Cássia's father, who ultimately decided to relinquish his claim. Remarkably, Cássia Eller had granted an interview to Marie Claire in which she explicitly stated that her wife should be the guardian of their son if anything were to happen to her. This interview played a pivotal role in the legal proceedings. In 2001, the Brazilian justice system made history by recognizing double motherhood for the first time when it granted guardianship of Chico to Maria Eugênia. This was a decade before same-sex marriage was legalized in Brazil. This case closely tracks the evolution of justice in acknowledging 'new' families — in quotation marks because they are not new; they have existed for a long time but were only recognized belatedly. Even in the present day, same-sex families in Brazil continue to face challenges, particularly regarding adoption, and they must contend with the persisting stigmas that exist in contemporary society.
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