Not limiting themselves to insulting Congressmen and women within the United States, Donald Trump’s administration issued an incorrectly gendered visa to a foreign congressional figure scheduled to speak at a panel this month.
Brazilian congresswomen Erika Hilton, who is transgender, applied for and was issued a U.S. travel visa that listed her as “male.” The news came on Wednesday, April 16, when Hilton wrote on her Instagram page recalling the situation. She had applied for the visa in order to participate in the Brazil Conference at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Due to the purposeful mistake, Hilton had canceled those plans, and the conference went on without her additional voice.
“I was worried about the treatment I would receive at the airport from the American authorities, given that the name is feminine and the gender described was masculine. I was scared, to be honest. And I didn’t accept subjecting myself to that kind of thing,” she told the Brazilian outlet Folha de S.Paulo. “I thought I didn’t deserve it, even though I was missing out on an important activity that I really wanted to participate in, I shouldn’t have to subject myself to such violence and disrespect.”
According to the Brazilian news site, Hilton was previously issued a U.S. travel visa in 2023 that had listed her gender as female. However, when she presented documents to the U.S. embassy in Brazil ahead of this year’s conference, including her birth certificate and diplomatic passport, where it specifically lists her gender as female, they were ignored.“I felt violated, disrespected and I felt that my country’s powers were being invaded by a completely delusional person, a sick man who occupied the presidency of the United States and feels he owns ‘the truth,’” Hilton said, referring to Donald Trump. “My Brazilian civil documents were disrespected.”
Included in the Wednesday Instagram post, Hilton, while expressing shock, also said that she was not surprised to be misgendered on her visa, as this had become a growing occurrence with trans citizens in the United States when they’ve received their own travel documents. In February, Euphoria actress Hunter Schafer said she’d received a new passport that identified her as “male.” As well, earlier this week, Canadian singer-songwriter Bells Larsen canceled his U.S. tour dates after being told that he would be unable to get an accurate visa because he is trans.
Hilton told Folha de S.Paulo that she plans to take legal action against Trump at the United Nations and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, stating she hopes Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs will press the U.S. ambassador for an explanation. According to the outlet, the U.S. embassy in Brazil has not commented on the situation dealing with Hilton’s visa application.