João W. Nery
1950–2018 · Brazilian psychologist, writer and activist
João W. Nery (Rio de Janeiro, 1950 – Niterói, 2018) was a Brazilian psychologist, writer and LGBT activist, best known for being the first trans man to undergo sex-reassignment surgery in Brazil, in 1977. His life and work offer a way of thinking about gender identity from both personal experience and psychological theory.
As a child he suffered harassment at school, and his mother took him to a psychologist who attributed his insistence on being treated as a boy to an imitation of his father. That father was exiled to Uruguay in 1964, and there João met Darcy Ribeiro and Berta Gleizer Ribeiro, who introduced him to anthropology and sociology. He later studied psychology and taught. After finding a scientific magazine with articles on sex-change surgery in a Paris bookshop, he began his transition. The operation was carried out clandestinely in São Paulo, at a time when Brazil regarded it as mutilation.
His thinking centres on separating transgender identity from homosexuality and on the idea that gender identity should be recognised from the person's own experience. His autobiography, Viagem Solitária, recounts that journey. After a lung cancer diagnosis in 2017, he died in 2018. His influence extends to LGBT activism and to a Brazilian bill bearing his name, inspired by Argentina's gender identity law.
Key ideas
- Transgender identity is not homosexuality: gender identity and sexual orientation are different things, a distinction he drew from both clinical contact and his own experience.
- Identity grounded in the person: he argued that recognising gender identity should not depend on medical reports or judicial authorisation.
- Criticism of the health system: he denounced the gaps in care for trans people in Brazil, where there were few protocols or studies on hormone treatment.
- Autobiography as reflection: in Viagem Solitária he set out his own process of understanding transsexuality from within.
Curiosities
Diving champion
At 13 he took up diving to build muscle and self-esteem. According to biographical accounts, he won a national youth title and collected 29 medals in women's competitions.
Inspiration for a telenovela
His book Viagem Solitária inspired the character Ivan in the telenovela A Força do Querer, broadcast on TV Globo in 2017.
Honorary doctorate
In 2018 he received an honorary doctorate from the Federal University of Mato Grosso in recognition of his activism and work.
Original Filopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.