Often touted as a forthcoming global superpower, Brazil is a land of deep paradoxes.
|
As for LGBT rights, Brazil's story is mixed. As long ago as 1830,
when Brazil was still part of Portugal's colonial empire, Don Pedro I
enacted an Imperial Penal Code which did not include 'sodomy.' In
1979, O Lampaio, the first gay Brazilian publication, emerged, and was
followed by the formation of Grupo Gay de Bahia (1980) in Salvador,
Bahia- this organisation still exists today. Shortly after the
restoration of democracy, Mato Grosso and Sargipe became the first
Brazilian constituent states to adopt anti-discrimination laws, in
1989. By 2007, Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro and seventy three other
municipalities had adopted such legislation. G, Brazil's first home-grown gay porn magazine, opened in 1997.
As for relationship equality, the situation is less clear cut. In
1995, Deputy Marta Suplicy proposed Bill Project No 1151, which would
have arranged for civil unions. The bill has been stalled in Brazil's
federal Congress since that time, although Rio Grande do Sol, Roraima
and Puaui have all adopted state civil union legislation since 2004. In
2006, the first lesbian and gay male adoptions took place, in
Cantandra, San Paolo and Grando do Sol. In that same year, President
Lula de Silva inaugurated Brazil Against Homophobia. In 2007, the
eleventh Sao Paolo Pride attracted almost four million participants.
However, not all is rosy. While three-quarters of Brazil's
population is Catholic, seventeen percent are fundamentalist
Christians, which has caused some headaches. One obnoxious federal
deputy, Edino Fonseca, is notorious for advocating federal funding for
fundamentalist exgay programmes (2005) and banning reassignment surgery
(2006). Poverty is rife, and Brazilian paramilitary groups carry out
'social cleansing' as they do elsewhere in America. According to the
BBC, 2680 poor gay men and transwomen have died this way, as have
countless street kids, beggars and vagrants.
Public figures also face their share of animosity. In October
2004, lesbian Eulina Fernandes was eliminated from a northern Brazilian
mayoral contest because she was having a relationship with her female
predecessor. In November 2005, Globo television network deleted a gay
kiss from the final episode of America, a popular soap opera.
In June 2007, Richarlyson Felisbino, a Sao Paolo footballer, was
outed on national television by the manager of a rival team. In January
2008, transwoman Roberta Goes and her partner were deprived of their
adopted baby by a transphobic government official.
Most significantly, two Brazilian Army personnel, Sargeants
Fernando de Figuerido and Marinho de Araujo, have been repeatedly
subjected to harrassment, prolonged imprisonment, torture, deprivation
of medication and food by the military since they came out in the pages
of Epoca magazine in June 2008.
Brazil is a land of many paradoxes. Some are benign, others are
sinister. It is a complex society and given its status as a rising
global player, its LGBT policies will bear close scrutiny in times to
come.
Recommended:
Clive Simmons: "Our Desperate Act" DNA 106 (December 2008): 94-97: "Brazil's Troubled Road to Liberation" (97)
