She gave benefit concerts, donated her performance fees, and collaborated in fundraising initiatives for institutions such as the Red Cross, the Portuguese League Against Cancer, and the Portuguese League Against AIDS, at a time when the latter was still subject to strong social stigmatization.
In France, for example, she performed at the L’Union des Artistes gala (1965), whose aim was to raise funds for the French Artists’ Home. Later, in the 1990s, at the invitation of the actress Line Renaud, her friend, she was one of the guests of honour at the Association des Artistes Contre le Sida gala, a cause with which she would become involved on several occasions.
Her independent heart was also deeply inclusive, as evidenced by the many charitable causes she embraced throughout her life. Many of her actions remained anonymous, such as the financial support she provided to anti-fascists during the Salazar regime.
When asked about the LGBTQ community, she replied with disarming simplicity: “People’s nature is not up for debate,” encapsulating in that statement a deeply respectful and humane view of each individual’s condition.
