CasaNem

CasaNem is a community-based shelter and social-support organization in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, focused on LGBTQIA+ people facing homelessness, discrimination, and other forms of social vulnerability. Its residents have predominantly been transgender and travesti people, although the occupation has also accommodated families and other people in need. Rather than operating as a conventional commercial brand, CasaNem combines emergency housing, political organizing, cultural activity, education, and assistance intended to help residents build greater autonomy. The organization began in February 2016 as an occupation of a property previously associated with the Casa Nuvem artistic collective in the Lapa neighborhood of central Rio de Janeiro. It was founded by transfeminist activists, including Indianarae Siqueira. The occupation model reflected both an immediate housing response and a broader movement for the right to housing, gender dignity, and access to public services. CasaNem later became associated with the Internationalist Homeless Front, known by its Portuguese acronym FIST, which provided legal support in property-possession disputes. After eviction from the original Lapa site in 2018, the group established the CasaNem Stonewall Inn occupation in Copacabana. Over subsequent years it occupied or used properties in several Rio neighborhoods, including Lapa, Copacabana, Bonsucesso, and Vila Isabel. These moves were driven by repossession orders, negotiations with public authorities, and the practical need to find safe accommodation for residents. The organization has relied substantially on volunteers, including psychologists, lawyers, teachers, doctors, and other community collaborators. CasaNem's work extends beyond accommodation. Its programs have included preparatory education for university entrance examinations, sewing and tailoring workshops, Brazilian Sign Language classes, capoeira, photography, and art-history activities. The PreparaNem initiative began as an entrance-exam preparation course for transgender people in central Rio and later expanded to locations including Maré and Niterói. These activities position the organization as both a shelter and a cultural-educational platform designed to improve residents' independence and access to opportunities. The organization has also used public events to address exclusion and build community. During its Copacabana period in 2019, it organized Desnatal, a four-day event conceived as an alternative Christmas gathering for LGBTQ people excluded from conventional family celebrations. The event reportedly welcomed approximately 150 people in addition to the building's residents. CasaNem's presence in occupied buildings sometimes generated conflict with neighbors and property owners, including police responses to complaints and disputes over possession. One particularly prominent episode involved the Almeida Rego building in Copacabana, an abandoned property occupied by CasaNem in 2019. Residents found artworks and other artifacts while cleaning the building and contacted public authorities, including the Federal Police, the National Museum, and the National Institute of Historic and Artistic Heritage. The occupation reportedly removed large quantities of refuse and sought to make the unsafe building habitable. The discovery attracted media and official attention, but a civil-court repossession order ultimately resulted in the eviction of the residents. In 2020, following another repossession dispute, CasaNem residents negotiated temporary accommodation in a state school in Copacabana while seeking a more stable arrangement. The state government subsequently made a building in Flamengo available under a five-year lease, with the possibility of renewal for an additional five years. The organization has therefore operated within a continuing tension between emergency occupation, legal insecurity, public-sector negotiation, and the pursuit of permanent housing. Information about its current legal status, leadership structure, finances, and present operating location is limited in the supplied sources.

CasaNem emerged in Rio de Janeiro in February 2016 through the work of transfeminist activists, including Indianarae Siqueira. Its first site was an occupation of a property formerly used by the Casa Nuvem artistic collective in Lapa. The initiative addressed the immediate housing needs of LGBTQ people experiencing social vulnerability while also creating a space for political organizing, mutual aid, education, and cultural activity. Transgender and travesti people formed the majority of residents, although the shelter's population could also include other LGBTQ people and families. The organization was not established as a conventional service provider with a stable commercial premises. Its model depended on the occupation or temporary use of underutilized properties, which repeatedly exposed it to possession claims and eviction proceedings. After the original property was repossessed, CasaNem founded the CasaNem Stonewall Inn occupation in Copacabana in 2018. It subsequently had connections to occupied or used sites in Lapa, Bonsucesso, and Vila Isabel. Legal assistance came in part through FIST, a housing-rights network that supported the residents in disputes over possession. In 2019, CasaNem occupied the Almeida Rego building on Rua Dias da Rocha in Copacabana. The building had reportedly been abandoned for many years and was in severely deteriorated condition. While clearing it, residents found artworks, sculptures, vases, taxidermied animals, and human and animal remains. They contacted the Federal Police, the National Museum, and heritage authorities rather than retaining the objects. The discovery brought officials and journalists to the site. Residents also removed substantial quantities of refuse, sought to regularize electricity, and requested technical assessments from engineers and architects. The property owner or estate administrator then pursued repossession, and a civil court authorized the eviction. CasaNem's Copacabana period also included tension with some neighbors, who sometimes contacted police seeking the removal of residents. Police attended the building on several occasions, including during the early hours of Christmas Eve. In response to the exclusion that LGBTQ people could experience during conventional holiday celebrations, CasaNem organized Desnatal, a four-day event that welcomed roughly 150 people alongside those living in the occupation. The event illustrated the group's combination of shelter provision, community-building, and cultural activism. In 2020, residents negotiated a temporary relocation after another property owner obtained a repossession order. The move was enforced with the presence of the Military Police of the State of Rio de Janeiro, but residents demanded that they be transferred peacefully rather than simply displaced. They were temporarily accommodated in a state school in Copacabana while public authorities considered a more durable solution. The State government later ceded a building in Flamengo's South Zone under a five-year lease, extendable for a further five years. The supplied reference does not establish whether this arrangement remains in force or whether CasaNem has since moved. The organization has developed a volunteer-supported network involving mental-health professionals, lawyers, teachers, doctors, and other collaborators. Its activities include PreparaNem, an entrance-exam preparation course for transgender people that began in central Rio and expanded to Maré and Niterói. Other workshops have covered sewing and tailoring, Brazilian Sign Language, capoeira, photography, and art history. These programs reflect CasaNem's emphasis on autonomy rather than shelter alone. On 15 March 2021, an incident at CasaNem involved an intrusion by people identified as relatives of one resident. The intruders reportedly issued death threats against residents. Beyond this incident, the organization's history has been marked by repeated housing insecurity, court proceedings, police involvement, and negotiations with public authorities. Available information does not provide a complete account of its current leadership, finances, legal form, operating status, or present programs.

• 2021

  Reported intrusion at CasaNem

  [1]CasaNemen.wikipedia.org

  An intrusion on 15 March is reportedly accompanied by death threats against residents.

• 2020

  Temporary relocation and public housing agreement

  [1]CasaNemen.wikipedia.org

  After repossession action, CasaNem moves temporarily to a state school and later receives access to a Flamengo building through a five-year state-government lease, reportedly renewable for another five years.

• 2019

  Almeida Rego building occupation and artifact discovery

  [1]CasaNemen.wikipedia.org

  Residents occupy an abandoned Copacabana building, clean the site, and turn over discovered artworks and other objects to public authorities.

• 2018

  CasaNem Stonewall Inn occupation begins

  [1]CasaNemen.wikipedia.org

  After eviction from the original location, the organization establishes a new occupation in Copacabana.

• 2016

  CasaNem is founded in Lapa

  [1]CasaNemen.wikipedia.org

  Transfeminist activists, including Indianarae Siqueira, begin CasaNem as an occupation providing shelter and community support to vulnerable LGBTQ people.

A grassroots LGBTQIA+ housing, autonomy, education, and cultural-support organization rooted in transfeminist activism and the urban right-to-housing movement.

• Housing and social support · 2016

  CasaNem shelter

  CasaNem's central offering is community-based shelter for LGBTQIA+ people experiencing social vulnerability, with particular attention to transgender and travesti residents. Housing has been provided through occupied, temporary, or publicly negotiated properties and is supplemented by volunteer professional support.

• Education

  PreparaNem

  PreparaNem is a volunteer-supported preparatory course for university entrance examinations aimed initially at transgender people. It began in central Rio de Janeiro and later expanded to classes or activities in Maré and Niterói.

• Community education

  Skills and cultural workshops

  CasaNem has offered workshops and courses in sewing and tailoring, Brazilian Sign Language, capoeira, photography, and art history. The activities support self-expression, practical skills, cultural participation, and resident autonomy.

• 2019Desnatal

  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  A four-day alternative Christmas celebration created for LGBTQ people excluded from conventional family festivities. It was held during CasaNem's Copacabana period and reportedly received approximately 150 people in addition to shelter residents.

  Outcome. The event provided a community gathering and extended CasaNem's role beyond accommodation into cultural and social support.

  Source

• 2020

  Pursuit of negotiated relocation and public housingStrategy

  Background

  A repossession order threatened the Copacabana accommodation and required residents to leave the occupied property.

  Action taken

  Residents sought a peaceful transfer, accepted temporary accommodation in a state school, and negotiated access to a Flamengo building provided by the state government under a fixed-term lease.

  Aftermath

  The arrangement created a more stable alternative to immediate displacement, although the available material does not confirm its current status or renewal.

  Source

1. 1CasaNemen.wikipedia.org