Alexandre Vidal Porto was born in Sao Paulo, Brazil. He is a writer, diplomat, and social activist.  He is the author of two novels: Matias na cidade (Record, 2005) and Sergio Y. (Companhia das Letras, 2014, winner of the Paraná Literature Prize), which has just been published in English by Europa Editions. He writes a weekly column on social issues for Folha de S. Paulo, the leading Brazilian paper, and is also a Harvard-trained lawyer whose advocacy focus on LGBT and minority rights.