Editor's note: This interview was entirely conducted in Portuguese, and translated into English, for publication on Out.
Bernardo Rabello knew exactly what he was doing when he decided to compete on Mister Brasil CNB — the country's most prestigious male pageant — as the first trans man in history to step on that stage. However, Rabello certainly didn't expect to land in the top 10 of the competition as a first-time contender. A 30-year-old personal trainer, influencer, and model from Resende, Rio de Janeiro, Rabello worked really hard, for many years, to become a so-called "overnight success" in the male pageant world and garner thousands of followers on social media.
"Since I was a child, I already didn't identify with the gender that people said I was. So I always grew up with this question mark," Rabello tells Out. "But, at that time, we didn't talk about trans identity like we do today. My family, my friends, my school… No one really had information, or tools, to help me."
The tides started to change for Rabello upon landing a job at a Michelin Tires factory at 23 years old and having access to a health insurance plan that made his transition possible. "I started hormone therapy in November 2017," he recalls, adding that his workplace experience could've gone wrong in several different ways… But didn't.
"I knew I was the only trans man working there," Rabello explains. "But the human resources team really had my back the entire time. They'd say, 'We want you to be here, and whatever happens to you, talk to us. We will give you all the support.' And I really did have a lot of support."
Bernardo RabelloCourtesy of Bernardo Rabello (@lifebernardorabello)
Rabello has patience and respect as the two main pillars of his philosophy in life. He is miraculously and masterfully uninterested in carrying baggage from a past when he was questioned, doubted, challenged, and couldn't access gender-affirming care. Rabello says that his father, a military man, needed some time to process the news. "My dad was afraid for me… Navigating the world as a trans man," he says. But things changed when Rabello's aunt had a conversation with his father.
"Man, why are you acting all confused with B?" Rabello recalls his aunt telling his dad. "He's just becoming the person he always wanted to be. He won't stop being the person that you always taught him to be. His essence will always remain inside him."
Rabello had top surgery in January 2021, a procedure he had been waiting for since puberty. "The chest is something that really bothered me, since it started growing," he says. "The body I saw in the mirror just wasn't fitting me. I didn't identify with it." Later that year, Rabello competed in the first-ever Mister Trans Brasil pageant in São Paulo… and won, turning Rabello into the first crowned winner of Mister Trans Brasil.
Alas, Rabello's path toward competing on Mister Brasil CNB — a much larger pageant in which he'd compete with cisgender men — came with a new set of challenges.
In 2019, for instance, he competed on the state-level Mister Rio de Janeiro CNB pageant, before his top surgery, "It was a big challenge, but I knew that I wasn't there just for myself and my own desires," Rabello notes. "It was for other people who would like to be there, too, or who had the same fear as me."
Plenty of malicious transphobic rhetoric was directed at Rabello at the time, particularly on social media. Thankfully, Rabello had already developed his own armor. "When a person criticizes another, it has much more to do with the critic," he reasons. "I always worked through that in my mind, because there's nothing wrong with me."
Over the years, Rabello started to "see a change in people's comments," which he is thankful for.
That years-long journey led Rabello to compete on Mister Brasil CNB in 2025. He was not only the first out trans man to compete on the pageant, but he also made it to the top 10 of the competition — making this milestone even more historic, and this message even more powerful, for all to see.
Rabello is now married and has been building a life with his wife in Resende, a city strategically located between Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. Looking ahead, Rabello wants to open up his own gym, compete again on Mister Brasil — "maybe 2026, or further ahead," he says — and to become a cast member on Big Brother Brasil, the country's most popular reality show for several years.
"I want to participate so I can share my life story not only with my housemates, but also with the world," Rabello muses. On a personal level, he also wants "very much to have a daughter," adding: "My wife would carry it, but I'd want to use my egg. To have a daughter with my DNA."
Bernardo RabelloCourtesy of Bernardo Rabello (@lifebernardorabello)
When asked to share a message with other trans men who learn about his life story and feel empowered by it, Rabello says: "There are people like me who are fighting for us to conquer our place and be visible. Every place that we conquer, it's not just for one of us individually, it's for all of us. It's for everyone."
We love to see it.
Fans can follow Bernardo Rabello on Instagram at @lifebernardorabello.
