Brazil seeks to revive prosecution of Christian woman who said men cannot become women 

Brazilian federal prosecutors want to retry a Christian woman over social media posts about biological sex.

They want to prosecute her despite a unanimous court ruling that her words weren’t criminal.

Veterinary student Isadora Borges could face up to 10 years in prison if prosecutors win their appeal, according to ADF International, which supports her defense.

The battle continues as leftist President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva won another four years in office this week. Lula received 51.79% of the vote in the presidential runoff. He defeated conservative Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro, who received 48.21%, Brazil’s electoral authorities reported.

The politician who reported Borges to police belongs to a party in Lula’s coalition.

Erika Hilton, a transgender lawmaker who identifies as a woman, accused Borges of transphobia over her posts. Hilton is a member of the left-wing Socialism and Liberty Party, and now chairs the Brazilian Congress’ women’s rights committee. 

ADF announced the prosecutors’ appeal four days before the Oct. 25 runoff.

“When we say men cannot become women, we are not spreading hate or targeting anyone; we are stating a biological fact,” Borges said in ADF’s announcement.

Borges wrote the two posts in November 2020, when conservative Jair Bolsonaro was president.

One post said transgender-identifying males “were obviously born male.” The other explained how neither surgery nor hormone use changes a person’s DNA, according to ADF’s case summary.

Borges learned about the criminal charges in September 2025. Prosecutors accused her of two counts of transphobia. Each violation carries a possible prison term of two to five years.

However, three judges on the Federal Regional Court of the Fifth Region unanimously ordered the case closed in March.

The panel determined that Borges made no threats or calls for violence against transgender-identifying people. It also found no intent behind her posts that would qualify for a criminal conviction.

“The truth matters. Stating biological facts in a post should never result in prison time,” Borges said in a March 13 statement.

Even so, Brazilian prosecutors now want the country’s Superior Tribunal of Justice to review the dismissal.

Their appeal argues that denying someone’s gender identity amounts to discrimination, even without calling for violence, Reduxx reported. Prosecutors also argue that judges were wrong to rule out criminal intent before a trial.

ADF attorney Julio Pohl warned about the case before Borges’ first hearing in February.

“No one should face a decade behind bars for expressing an opinion on a matter of public concern,” he said at the time.

The charges rest on a 2019 Supreme Court ruling that placed homophobia and transphobia under Brazil’s law against racism.

The court said the ruling protected religious speech unless it constituted hate speech.

Since the ruling, some Christian teaching has effectively been criminalized.

Assemblies of God Pastor Douglas Baptista faced prosecution after publishing a book about sex and gender from a Christian perspective. Hilton also filed the complaint in that case, according to ADF.

Authorities dropped the charges in February 2025.

“No pastor or faith leader should face criminal prosecution for teaching Biblical truth to their congregations,” Pohl said in ADF’s account of Baptista’s case.

Brazil’s fight over online speech also led courts to block access to X in 2024. A column published by Heartlander News at the time explained the ban and how the country threatened fines for people who used virtual private networks to access the platform.

(Image credit: Isadora Borges, Alliance Defending Freedom International)