Brazil has allegedly been used by the Open Society and the Ford Foundation as a “laboratory” for transgender ideology. Isabella Cêpa, a 30-year-old marketing consultant and graphic designer, has become both a victim of and a symbol of the consequences of a politicised, radical trans agenda.
Cêpa, who grew up amid domestic violence and sexual abuse, has used her Instagram account to address issues such as women’s rights and violence against women. This became increasingly difficult when the transgender movement claimed a monopoly on defining what a woman is. In response, Cêpa adopted more radical feminist positions and, as a result, became a respected voice in Brazil, known for disseminating information about violence and for her unequivocal opposition to allowing biological men who “identify” as women access to female-only spaces – prisons, changing rooms, showers, etc.
– The authoritarian features of trans ideology
Cêpa’s activism took a dramatic turn when, in 2020, she criticised Erika Hilton, a transgender person elected to the São Paulo City Council as the “woman” who had received the most votes. Cêpa referred to Hilton as a man – and was met with a wave of accusations as a result.
In June 2022, she was charged with five counts of “racism” after a 2019 Supreme Court ruling equated discrimination against LGBTQ+ communities with racism. Four of the charges stemmed from retweets of innocuous posts addressing issues such as keeping transwomen out of women’s prisons; for example, one post stating that “this is the last chance to vote if we believe transwomen do not belong in women’s prisons”. The maximum penalty for “misgendering” is up to 25 years’ imprisonment.
Meet Isabella Cepa, a woman who had to flee Brazil after she faced 25 years in prison for misgendering a transgender politician on social media.
Is this the freedom in Brazil that American liberals are defending? pic.twitter.com/F57HwhC3ni
— Based Bandita (@BasedBandita) August 10, 2025
In July 2024, she planned a trip to Spain to visit a friend. At Salvador Bahia Airport, a federal agent informed her that her passport had been “flagged”. He asked whether there were any legal proceedings or charges pending against her. The agent warned her of political persecution and advised her not to return to Brazil.
Cêpa, who had already lost her job, first fled to Spain, then to Morocco and subsequently to Portugal. In Morocco, she spent six months as the only foreigner in a small town of 5,000 inhabitants. Financially ruined, she applied for asylum in the EU, but her application was initially met with scepticism:
– The story was so absurd that they did not believe it was possible – but after more than a thousand pages of case documents had been submitted, I was granted official refugee status in a European country in 2025.
Refugee status for opposition to transgender ideology
According to European Conservative, major “philanthropic” institutions such as the Open Society and the Ford Foundation have turned Brazil into a laboratory for LGBT politics. They donate money and allow politicians to decide which LGBT NGOs are to receive funding. The groups that receive funding respond by producing reports and recommendations that politicians have used to advance LGBT policies.
One result of this laboratory experiment is that Cêpa, as the first Brazilian since the military dictatorship, has been granted refugee status on the grounds of political persecution. She is also the first woman in the world to have had to flee her country because of her opposition to transgender ideology.
The case against Cêpa was “archived” by the Supreme Court on 2 September last year, but it has not been concluded and she risks arrest if she returns. Supreme Court Justice Gilmar Mendes rejected an attempt by Erika Hilton to have the case reopened. He upheld the view that referring to a transgender person as a “man” does not automatically constitute a criminal “transphobic” attack under the law. This was regarded as a partial victory for freedom of expression.
In October 2025, Cêpa was included in a new investigation because she had reposted posts by another feminist who maintained that transwomen are not women.
In March–April this year, Erika Hilton was elected to chair a committee on women’s rights in the National Congress, something that has been met with strong criticism from gender-critical feminists, specifically with reference to the Cêpa case.
Cêpa herself is active on social media. In interviews, she describes the case as an example of how radical trans ideology and strict hate speech laws can be used to silence biologically based feminism. She has criticised the political left for having “abandoned women” in favour of identity politics. She has also brought a defamation lawsuit against Erika Hilton after he called her a “criminal”.
Cêpa continues to live in exile. She has become an international symbol of “gender tyranny” and an icon for gender-critical feminists around the world – while critics on the political left regard her as transphobic and hateful.
In exile, she struggles financially and with her mental health, but regards her refugee status as a victory:
– It provides security and draws attention to the authoritarian aspects of trans ideology and the Moraes–Lula coalition.
Not only Cêpa
Several women whose posts Cêpa has retweeted are now reportedly under investigation by the Brazilian prosecuting authorities.
– All the women whose posts I have retweeted are being prosecuted. One of them has been charged with two counts of racism, which means she could end up in prison for as long as she remains in Brazil. No one will support us publicly because the law is vague about what constitutes a crime and what does not. People are being prosecuted, and those who speak about it risk being prosecuted themselves.