BRAZIL: TRANSSEXUAL ROBERTA CLOSE LAUNCHES HER BIOGRAPHY скачать в хорошем качестве

BRAZIL: TRANSSEXUAL ROBERTA CLOSE LAUNCHES HER BIOGRAPHY

(15 May 1998) Portuguese/Nat Brazil's most famous transsexual, Roberta Close, launched her biography this week in Rio de Janeiro. The 33-year-old star first hit international notoriety as a Playboy model when she was 20 years old. But her lifelong struggle for acceptance in a macho world continues following a court's refusal to allow her to officially register as a woman. The launch of a book "Pleased to meet you, Roberta Close" on Wednesday marked a new chapter in the unusual life of Brazil's most famous transsexual. The launch party brought out Brazil's glitteratti as well as international names in modelling and glamour. The book is already on the list of best sellers with more than 10-thousand copies sold. She claims there is still a long way to go. SOUNDBITE: (Portuguese) "No. No. This book is not a victory. The book is a way to communicate with the Brazilian society, a testimony of life. It's a controversial theme that I think should be discussed because...These kind of things are happening at the end of the millennium and why not talk about that, debate it?" SUPER CAPTION: Roberta Close, Transsexual Model Roberta Close was born Luis Roberto Gambine Moreira on December 7, 1964 in Rio de Janeiro, to a lifelong fight against homophobia and discrimination. She was born with a medical condition that affected her reproductive organs and prevented their development. When she was 14 years old she decided to become a transvestite and left her family to live alone in Sao Paulo city, where she bought her first dress. In 1984, aged 20, she posed for Playboy magazine and her fame and notoriety grew overnight. She now walks the catwalks around the world for designers such as Thierry Mugler and Jean-Paul Gaultier. The story does not end here though as her fight for acceptance still continues. SOUNDBITE: (Portuguese) "Well, this is a thing that I think sooner or later they will have to give up because this is a archaic thing, very old, and Brazil, the Brazilian population have to be prepared for the new people that are appearing in the world...people are changing their sex and starting to belong to the other sex. The government has to be prepared to live with this." SUPER CAPTION: Roberta Close, Transsexual Model In May 1991 Roberta's lawyer filed legal procedures to allow her to officially change her name and sex through deed poll. In 1994 the Brazilian Superior Justice Tribunal denied her request on the grounds that she cannot be considered as a woman because she cannot give birth. Though her request has been shelved she has vowed to continue her fight. Also present at the launch were her parents. SOUNDBITE: (Portuguese) "Victory, real victory, we haven't got yet, you know? The biggest victory will be the day that everyone lets her assume her identity isn't it? When they (the Superior Justice Tribunal) accept her identity in the female sex. This will be a big victory but, for now, it's very rewarding for us at this moment, this night...So it's a very happy moment for all of us." SUPER CAPTION: Maria Simoes Moreira, Roberta's mother There are over 50 clandestine sex change operations made in Brazil every year despite the fact that in October 1997 the Federal Council of Medicine authorised sex change operations in public hospitals. These can only be done after two years of treatment made by groups of doctors including psychologists and psychiatrists. Roberta's book stands as a testament to the suffering of transsexuals in Brazil. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...