Fun Fast Facts:
Updated: 30 Jun 2014 (World Cup Special)
- In 2009, the National Plan of Promotion of Citizenship and Human Rights of LGBT (“Plano Nacional de Promoção da Cidadania e Direitos Humanos de LGBT”), a groundbreaking national plan to promote rights of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transsexuals was adopted by the Federal government of Brazil.
Updated: 28 Mar 2012 (Pushing back on the gay cure)
- LGBT people have had marriage rights available nationwide since May 2013.
- According to the Guinness World Records, the São Paulo Gay Pride Parade is the world’s largest LGBT Pride celebration, with 4 million people in 2009.
- In 1830, Dom Pedro I signed into law the Imperial Penal Code. It eliminates all references to sodomy.
- In 2008, National LGBT Conference was held. The event, the first in the world to be organized by a government, is a result of demands made by civil society and the Brazilian government’s support of LGBT people’s rights.
World Cup Special
Broadcast: 30 Jun 2014
W3JOY interviewed: David Chong
“In Brazil, people take the celebrations and commiserations outside of the (soccer) stadium. It is a religion. It is known that in certain championships, people die of heart attacks.”
“There’s no gay out and open (soccer players). Because homophobia and hetero-normativity is still alive and very well. Although there are laws that are protecting, there are spaces that really constrain people.”
“(Homophobia) happens overtly. It’s non-spoken – it’s in the air. So you become bisexual, not gay. For many years we had a transgender being a sex symbol and it was cool.”
W3JOY interviewed: Evandro Maia, Mr Gay Brazil
“Now is the best time to be gay in Brazil because we were fighting for our rights and now the government signed the law to let us marry and have kids and be ourselves.”
“The government really wants to be the next country to host Mr Gay World so we can open minds.”
“I’m the only UFC fighter who is openly gay in my country. I know a lot of other fighters who are gay but are afraid to come out of the closet.”
Listen to the podcast
GLBTI community at the mercy of religion and politics
Broadcast: 14 Oct 2013
LGBTIQ-friendly organisation: Micro Rainbow International
- Working to address the situation of poverty of LGBTI people by making recommendations and devising actions that can alleviate such poverty.
- Researching poverty, sexual orientation and gender identity in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
W3JOY interviewed: Lucas Paoli Itaborahy, spokesperson of Micro Rainbow International
“When it comes to discrimination, when it comes to acceptability, the trans community is the one that is the most affected, the one that suffers the most.”
“Religious and conservative opposition is increasingly getting more support and really pushing against the LGBTI community. They’ve dominated the debate. We have a great amount of evangelical and catholic politicians in our Senate and they’ve been really jeopardising the progress and really hindering any legal developments.”
Listen to the podcast
Pushing back on the gay cure
Broadcast: 28 Mar 2012
LGBTIQ-friendly organisation: Grupo Gay de Bahia (GGB)
- Founded in 1980, GGB is the oldest association for the defense of the human rights for homosexuals functioning in Brazil.
- The group publishes the GGB Bulletin two or three times a year, and has produced two dozen pamphlets and booklets about homosexuality and AIDS.
- Main objectives are to defend rights, spread accurate information and promote awareness.
W3JOY interviewed: Guilherme Altmayer, social-media activist
“What I work on is how to express desire without naming it.”
“[on desire] I think the Catholic church never managed to overcome that push that we have.”
“Homosexuality in Brazil has only begun to be spoken about in Brazil in the 1970s.”
“The marriage has been approved by the Supreme Court here, it was not approved by the Parliamant here…because we have a very, very conservative Parliament here.”
W3JOY interviewed: Miriam, LGBT Brazillian not yet out to her family
“I’m not looking for a cure. I’m really happy.”
“We didn’t have this kind of hate speech before.”
“Religion is everywhere in Brazil but no one really follows it very much. Converting the natives into Christianity was one of the biggest weapons from the Portuguese crown to take over the new territories.”
W3JOY interviewed: Melbourne-based psychologist David Chong
” Like any political party that gets into power, you give a piece of the pie to all the parties that support you…This Marco Feliciano, while not necessarily the most appropriate person for this position, has been elected by many different people from many different parties as well.”
“This is not new, this is well-known. My biggest fear here is the politicisation of human rights. Human rights has to be a practice of every single person as well as an ethical government.”