April 21st | Fortaleza, AL
Trans actress Danielle Mendes starring as Jesus Christ.
Yeasterday, April 20th, the play "Os Crucificados da Atualidade", or "The Contemporary Crucified", was staged in Fortaleza in the "Páscoa Para Todos" festival, which counted with displays of movies, musical presentations and theatrical performances. Starring as Jesus Christ, the trans woman Danielle Mendes was accused of disrespecting the christian faith and caused revolt in conservative Marians.
The play received financial support of the Secretary of Culture of Fortaleza and was directed by Antônio Figo, who graduated in Visual Arts by the Federal University of Meireles. Interviewed by our reporter, Figo said “The part of Danielle in the play was to represent the suffering that Jesus passed two thousand years ago, and to represent the suffering passed by the LGBT population in Dragão do Mar and in radically conservative countries as San Jimenez, Thuzbekistan and Balnik. As a actress, she performed the part in excellent way and with total respect to the religious icon of Christianism. I'm sure that everyone who's criticizing her did never watch the play, and are taking images out of context as reference”.
The federal deputy Luiz Fiuza, of the Catholic Conservative Party (PCC), posted in his social networks photos of Danielle Mendes in the scene of crucification, with messages against the actress “Disgusting. These are images that completely shock and revolt me. That's what they wish to do with their so-called freedom of expression? To disrespect our sacred faith with the support of public money? And after all I am the one who gets called intolerant...”
The actress Danielle Mendes said to our reporter “Unfortunately, nowadays people hold too much to religious symbols and forgot the most important thing that Jesus taught to humanity: to love. I'm evangelical, and I know that to love the others as ourselves is the most important principle of Christianism. Those who are questioning my part as Jesus didn't understand my intention. I wanted to show to our people that the hardships that every LGBT knows aren't so different to hardships that Jesus passed”.
The federal deputy Amanda Menezes, of Marian Workers' Party (PTM), also pronounced in her social networks “Such hatred over the play is evidently caused by prejudice stimulated by intellectually dishonest and opportunist religious and conservative leaders. Their only objective of defame lesbians, gays and transsexuals through the manipulation of information, increasing the homophobia in the minds and hearts of our population”. The deputy Menezes, know for leading rallies of the Unified Republican Movement in the last year, became an active advocate of social progressivism and gender equality in the Chamber of Deputies of Dragão do Mar since the elections of 2018.