Rosa de Marte
Ed's defiant yet gentle personality plays a huge part in the community centre he has opened at the favela near his home, which features the work of local trans artists and welcomes people from the favela to hang out and share experiences with trans people in a effort to raise awareness about gender diversity.
Creating safe spaces for trans people to be who they are, without needing to hide an important part of their lives, is especially important in a country like Brazil, where the violence agains LGBT people has historically been a chronic problem. In 2017, there was one LGBTs victim killed every 19 hours for homophobic reasons in Brazil.
The community space Ed has created is called Rosa de Marte and is located at the community Vila Nossa Senhora Aparecida ( São Lucas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais in Brazil.)
All the photos above were taken at the community centre Rosa de Marte.