06/16/2006
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While no systematic, clear law protecting the rights of homosexuals exists in
any European country, the Brazilian government has begun the process of approving
a bill that protects the movement and defines homophobia as an offence on the
same par as racial discrimination. This first, important step to fighting homofobia
in Brazil is designed to give a strong signal against the numerous acts of aggression
carried out in recent years against gay activists. Bill 503/01, presented by the
Petista parliamentary deputy and vice-president of the party, Iara Bernardi, is
intended to transform discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation into
crime, in much the same way as has been done with racial discrimination.
«We are continuously receiving threats because of our activities in support of
homosexual movements and in recent years I myself have been subject to two attacks,
so much so in fact that the State has now provided me with a bodyguard”, Adamor
Guedes, gay militant and president of Associação Amazonense de Gays, Lésbicas e Trangêneros (AAGLT), explained in February 2005 while describing the hostility that existed
among the local population in the town of Manaus which, he claimed, was uninterested
and even against the plan to make people aware of the rights of the gay community.
In September of the same year the president of AAGLT was stabbed to death in Manaus
in one of the most dramatic moments for the homosexual community.
The parliamentary bill is scheduled to be voted on very soon and it has a very
good chance of being approved. There is also moderate optimism among the militants
of the GLTB movement, which is part of the Asociacìon Brasileira de Gays, Lésbicas
e Trangêneros (ABGLT) that, immediately after the attacks in March, began to campaign
for the bill to be quickly inserted into the parliamentary agenda and gained the
support of nine political parties including the social democratic party (PSDB),
the Brazilian Communist Party (PCDOB) and, obviously, the Workers Party.
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The Parliament is about to approve a draft that will compare homophobes to racists
Written by David Lifodi
Musibrasil.net
While no systematic, clear law protecting the rights of homosexuals exists in
any European country, the Brazilian government has begun the process of approving
a bill that protects the movement and defines homophobia as an offence on the
same par as racial discrimination. This first, important step to fighting homofobia
in Brazil is designed to give a strong signal against the numerous acts of aggression
carried out in recent years against gay activists. Bill 503/01, presented by the
Petista parliamentary deputy and vice-president of the party, Iara Bernardi, is
intended to transform discrimination based on a person’s sexual orientation into
crime, in much the same way as has been done with racial discrimination.
«We are continuously receiving threats because of our activities in support of
homosexual movements and in recent years I myself have been subject to two attacks,
so much so in fact that the State has now provided me with a bodyguard”, Adamor
Guedes, gay militant and president of Associação Amazonense de Gays, Lésbicas e Trangêneros (AAGLT), explained in February 2005 while describing the hostility that existed
among the local population in the town of Manaus which, he claimed, was uninterested
and even against the plan to make people aware of the rights of the gay community.
In September of the same year the president of AAGLT was stabbed to death in Manaus
in one of the most dramatic moments for the homosexual community. The murder was just the beginning of an extremely violent campaign against homosexuals
that resulted, in subsequent months, in the murder in Rio de Janeiro of Claudio
Alves dos Santos (who was also active in the defence of rights for homosexuals)
and, in March of this year, in an attack against the leaders of the associations
who were working in Curitiba to fight against the discrimination which gay activists
are often subjected to.
The wave of homophobia which exploded in all its violence between the last months of 2005 and the beginning of 2006 has forced the Lula government to intervene. While the executive has not changed Brazil’s economic policies to any noticeable degree (for which it has received widespread criticism), the fact that the law may soon consider homophobia to be a crime represents a very important breakthrough not just for Brazil but also for the rest of Latin America where male chauvinism is still very strong.
The wave of homophobia which exploded in all its violence between the last months of 2005 and the beginning of 2006 has forced the Lula government to intervene. While the executive has not changed Brazil’s economic policies to any noticeable degree (for which it has received widespread criticism), the fact that the law may soon consider homophobia to be a crime represents a very important breakthrough not just for Brazil but also for the rest of Latin America where male chauvinism is still very strong.
The parliamentary bill is scheduled to be voted on very soon and it has a very
good chance of being approved. There is also moderate optimism among the militants
of the GLTB movement, which is part of the Asociacìon Brasileira de Gays, Lésbicas
e Trangêneros (ABGLT) that, immediately after the attacks in March, began to campaign
for the bill to be quickly inserted into the parliamentary agenda and gained the
support of nine political parties including the social democratic party (PSDB),
the Brazilian Communist Party (PCDOB) and, obviously, the Workers Party. In fact the PCDOB was among the most active in working for the movement. During
the first few days of April Aldo Rebelo, leader of the party and president of
the House, met thirty representatives of the homosexual movement, assuring them
that he would personally push for the bill to be voted on and obtaining the support
of 90 parliamentary deputies in favour of the proposal to transform homophobia
into a crime.
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