Erika Hilton

Erika Santos Silva, known as Erika Hilton (born 9 December 1992), is a Brazilian politician and activist for black, LGBT and women rights. Hilton studied teaching and gerontology before entering politics.

Affiliated to the Socialism and Liberty Party (PSOL), in the 2020 elections, she gained national and international notice by becoming the first openly transgender councilor elected to the Municipal Chamber of São Paulo, receiving the most votes for any councilor in the country.

In 2022, she and Duda Salabert became the first two openly transgender people elected to the National Congress of Brazil, with both of them elected to its Chamber of Deputies. Hilton was honored as one of the BBC 100 Women in December 2022.

Early life and education Hilton was born in Franco da Rocha and grew up on the outskirts of Francisco Morato in Greater São Paulo. When she was 14, she and her family moved to Itu in the interior of São Paulo state. Raised in an evangelical family, Hilton experienced gender-based violence by her uncles because of her gender identity, and ultimately became homeless at the age of 15, during which time she used sex work to survive. After six years, Hilton returned to the care of her mother. While at university, Hilton took part in student politics.

Activism and political beginnings In 2015, Hilton launched an online petition calling for transgender people to be given the right to choose their own names after a bus company in Itu refused to print her female name on a seasonal bus ticket. The petition went viral online, and was ultimately successful.

Bancada Ativista (2018–2020) In 2018, Hilton joined Bancada Ativista, a political movement calling for a diversification of Brazilian politics. She was part of a collective mandate which saw Mônica Seixas elected to the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo with 149,844 votes. Hilton officially acted as an aide to Seixas, but alongside the other members of Bancada Ativista, acted "almost as a parliamentarian"; the Legislative Assembly permitted Seixas' official portrait to show all members of the collective, although only Seixas was officially recognised as a member of the assembly.

Municipal Chamber of São Paulo (2021–2023) In 2020, Hilton left Bancada Ativista in order to stand as a candidate for the Municipal Chamber of São Paulo; she was elected with 50,508 votes, the most received by a female councillor, and became the first trans woman to occupy a seat in the chamber. Hilton started her mandate in the chamber on 1 January 2021 and ran as the PSOL candidate to serve as president of the chamber, though was defeated by Milton Leite of the Democrats. She was chosen as the leader of the PSOL councillors, which constituted the third largest party in the chamber.

During her time as a councillor, Hilton sat on the chamber's commissions on human rights and citizenship, public administration, and education and culture. Hilton's bills included a proposal to establish a municipal fund to fight hunger, with the objective of financing public policies to ensure food security in São Paulo.

Parliamentary Inquiry Commission on Transphobia At the initiative of Erika Hilton, on 24 September 2021, a Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) was established in the Municipal Chamber of São Paulo to investigate violence against transgender and travesti people in the city. Erika Hilton was elected president of the Commission and, together with the other members, became responsible for investigating transphobic violence committed against transgender women and men, travesti, and non-binary people in the city.

The data set relating to the investigation and conclusions of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) were made available in the CPI's final report, which forwarded 189 recommendations to 33 public and private institutions regarding initiatives to combat institutional transphobia.

Chamber of Deputies (2023–present) In March 2022, Hilton announced that she would stand as a PSOL candidate for São Paulo in the Chamber of Deputies. She was ultimately successful, garnering 256,903 votes. Hilton's mandate included the inclusion of trans people in the Brazilian workforce.

In May 2023, Hilton was unanimously elected as vice president of the chamber's human rights, minorities and racial equality commission.

In July 2023, during a parliamentary enquiry into the 2023 Brazilian Congress attack, deputy Abilio Brunini commented during a speech given by Hilton that she was "offering sexual services" in the chamber. Following his comments, it was announced that Brunini would be investigated by the attorney general for "political and gender violence".

In response to the proposal of bill 5167/2009, which would prohibit civil unions between same-sex couples, Hilton established the Parliamentary Front in Defence of Citizenship and the Rights of the LGBTI+ Community in September 2023, with the support of 210 deputies and senators, with the goal of promoting and protecting the rights of LGBT+ people.

On 11 March 2026, Hilton was elected president of the Women's Commission in the Chamber of Deputies, becoming the first transgender woman to hold that position.

In May 2026, Hilton publicly questioned Meta Platforms after several LGBTQ Instagram profiles in Brazil were suspended and later restored without individualized public explanations. The affected accounts included the queer news outlets GAYBLOGBR, Ezatamentchy, ComunidadesLGBTQIA, Pheeno and UniversoLGBTI. Hilton and São Paulo city councillor Amanda Paschoal sent a official request to Meta Platforms Brasil requesting the restoration of the accounts, clarification of the rules allegedly violated, preservation of data and qualified human review of the suspensions. which referred to a civil inquiry by Brazil's Federal Public Prosecutor's Office (Ministério Público Federal - MPF) into possible harms to LGBTQ people following changes to Meta's content policies.

Personal life

Regarding her sexual orientation, Erika stated that she tried to have relationships with women, but it didn't work out. She has been in a relationship with photographer Daniel Zezza since 2023. Daniel is a trans man and they both live in a trans-centered relationship.