Laerte Coutinho

{{Infobox comics creator

| name = Laerte

| image = File:Laerte em 2015 (cropped).jpg

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| caption = Laerte in 2015

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| birth_name = Laerte Coutinho

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1951|06|10|df=y}}

| birth_place = São Paulo, Brazil

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| notable works = Piratas do Tietê, Manual do Minotauro, Muchacha, Striptiras, Los Três Amigos

| collaborators = Angeli, Glauco, Adão Iturrusgarai, Rafael Coutinho

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Laerte Coutinho (born 10 June 1951), known mainly as simply Laerte, is a Brazilian cartoonist and screenwriter, known for creating comic strips such as Piratas do Tietê (Pirates of the Tietê River).

She was part of the Brazilian underground comics scene of the 1980s.{{cite web|author=dos Santos, Aline Martins|title="Udigrudi": o underground tupiniquim-Chiclete com Banana e o humor em tempos de redemocratização brasileira|url=http://www.historia.uff.br/stricto/td/1616.pdf|institution=Fluminense Federal University|year=2012|access-date=9 April 2014}} Together with Angeli and Glauco (and later Adão Iturrusgarai) she drew the collaborative comic strip {{ill|Los Três Amigos|pt}}. She has done work for publications such as Balão, O Pasquim, and Chiclete com Banana magazines, and draws regularly for Folha de S. Paulo newspaper. Since the mid 2000s, her strips have become more "philosophical" and less humor-focused, relying less on recurring characters.

She is a transgender woman.

Career

In 1968 Laerte completed the Free Course of Drawing of the Fundação Armando Alvares Penteado. In 1969 she began to study journalism at the University of São Paulo but did not complete the course.

She created the character Leão for the magazine Sibila in 1970. During the 1970s, while a student at USP's Escola de Comunicações e Artes (School for Communications and Arts), she worked for the magazines Banas and Placar, and founded – with Luiz Gê – the magazine Balão. In 1974 she did her first work for a newspaper, Gazeta Mercantil.

In the same year she began producing campaign material for the Brazilian Democratic Movement during the elections. The following year she worked in the production of cards of solidarity in the movement of aid to political prisoners. In 1978 she drew stories featuring the character João Ferrador for the publication of the metalworkers' union in São Bernardo do Campo. She later found the Oboré agency specialized in producing communication materials for unions. The company published her book Illustration Union (1986), with a thousand illustrations, comics, and cartoons released for use by unions and other organizations.[http://www.agenciasindical.com.br/noticias/3286%20matilha%20cultural.html Exposição “Obra Pública” retrata luta sindical] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426020822/http://www.agenciasindical.com.br/noticias/3286%20matilha%20cultural.html |date=26 April 2012 }}. Agência Sindical She did media coverage for FIFA World Cups: those of 1978 (for the newspaper O Estado de S. Paulo), 1982 (for Folha de S. Paulo),and 1986 (for O Estado de S. Paulo).

At the end of the 1980s, she published comic strips for magazines such as Chiclete com Banana (edited by Angeli), Geraldão (edited by Glauco) and Circo, all by Toninho Mendes' Circo publishing house, who would later launch her solo magazine Piratas do Tietê. In 1985 she released her first book, O Tamanho da Coisa, a collection of her cartoons. In 1991 Folha de S. Paulo began publishing her Piratas do Tietê comic strips. She regularly releases albums with collections of her strips, mainly published by Devir Livraria and L&PM Pocket.

Laerte has also worked as screenwriter, co-authoring scripts for comedy shows such as TV Pirata and Sai de Baixo and children's show TV Colosso.{{Cite news|url=http://riscafaca.com.br/televisao/tv-colosso/|title=A história oral da 'TV Colosso' - Risca Faca|date=13 October 2016|newspaper=Risca Faca|language=pt-BR|access-date=17 October 2016}} She presents a talk-show on Canal Brasil, Transando com Laerte.{{cite web|url=http://www1.folha.uol.com.br/ilustrada/2015/06/1636670-laerte-estreia-programa-no-canal-brasil-entrevistando-atriz-marisa-orth.shtml|title=Laerte estreia programa no Canal Brasil entrevistando atriz Marisa Orth - 02/06/2015 - Ilustrada - Folha de S.Paulo|website=www1.folha.uol.com.br|access-date=17 October 2016}}

Personal life

Assigned male at birth, she came out in 2009 as a crossdresser{{cite web|url=http://www.bleedingcool.com/2010/09/03/laerte-coutinho-comes-out-as-transvestite/|title=Laerte Coutinho Comes Out As An Transvestite|author=Rich, Johnston|date=30 September 2010|work=Bleeding Cool|access-date=14 October 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://revistatrip.uol.com.br/so-no-site/entrevistas/paradoxo-de-salto-alto.html|title=Paradoxo de salto alto - Trip|access-date=27 June 2016}} and later as a transgender woman.{{cite web|url=http://www.guiadasemana.com.br/celebridades/noticia/laerte-coutinho-e-a-luta-lgbt|title=Laerte Coutinho e a luta LGBT|access-date=27 June 2016}} In 2012 she was a founding member of the Associação Brasileira de Transgêner@s ("Brazilian Association of Transgender People").{{Cite web|url=http://transexuaissp.com.br/laerte-em-transito-como-vive-o-que-pensa-e-com-quem-anda-o-cartunista-que-decidiu-ser-mulher-em-carater-experimental/|title=Laerte em Trânsito|last=de Barros e Silva|first=Fernando|date=2013-09-28|website=Transsexuaissp|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180630185639/http://transexuaissp.com.br/laerte-em-transito-como-vive-o-que-pensa-e-com-quem-anda-o-cartunista-que-decidiu-ser-mulher-em-carater-experimental/|archive-date=2018-06-30|access-date=2019-09-04}}{{Cite news|url=https://piaui.folha.uol.com.br/materia/laerte-em-transito/|title=Laerte em trânsito|work=revista piauí|access-date=30 June 2018|language=pt-BR}} She contributed to the Google Doodle for International Women's Day 2018 by creating a short comic about a man and a transgender woman falling in love.{{cite web|title=Women's Day 2018|url=https://www.google.com/?doodle=68720906_3f1dmv1VV2yYQEjdcW1mdTDG491lGjDAFiKihrFxNcSdE1rH8wD7BRVTJJkYZVN6a4sKEao1epdY0FIfB266Xgb-vOJBnmEDd95DdQSaJKbMhdBDlrbBsvY65rx4NQEBJRTbNkMp2QmHao5zM9QjTAubLU-S0spzrVXsSNCcL-aUwaDAiyMp_CxcebKiyfhxCBQV8t_zO6o7mdmnl5kiPZFd6xLBZhEREJpP90v4SVXva6QAD3r4xISNmTUcdmmMAmR_ai81IoS9BpA5runx2A5RYx8PmC5DzIUYwt3jV5HxqFyztItsNU0RWFNgXCKh&hl=en&ds=em}}

Her son Rafael Coutinho is also a cartoonist.{{cite web|url=http://entretenimento.band.uol.com.br/cqc/videos/15130280/Rafael-Coutinho-relata-como-foi-ver-a-transformacao-de-seu-pai-Laerte.html|title=Rafael Coutinho relata como foi ver a transformação de seu pai Laerte {{!}} Vídeos {{!}} CQC {{!}} Band.com.br|website=CQC - Site oficial do Programa CQC {{!}} Band|language=pt-br|access-date=24 April 2017}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20110101070904/http://www.laerte.com.br/ Official website]
[http://www.manualdominotauro.blogspot.com/ Personal blog]
[http://lambiek.net/artists/l/laerte.htm/ Laerte at Lambiek Comiclopedia]
{{IMDb name|id=nm0184210}}

Category:1951 births

Category:Brazilian comic strip cartoonists

Category:Women comic strip cartoonists

Category:Living people

Category:LGBTQ comics creators

Category:Brazilian LGBTQ journalists

Category:Brazilian LGBTQ screenwriters

Category:Brazilian LGBTQ rights activists

Category:Brazilian transgender writers

Category:Brazilian transgender artists

Category:Brazilian transgender women

Category:Transgender women artists