Brazil President Suspends School Anti-Homophobia Campaign

Under considerable pressure from evangelical Christians, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff has suspended an anti-homophobia campaign scheduled to begin in schools this year, reports the AP.

Presidential secretary Gilberto Carvalho met with legislators representing religious groups that have opposed the campaign and emerged to say that Rousseff decided to delay the program. He did not provide details on what material in the videos and pamphlets was considered inappropriate by Rousseff. The materials were to be distributed to children of varying ages across Brazil.

"The government maintains its clear position against any type of homophobia," Carvalho said. "It's important that this material, to be productive and to reach its goals, be the result of extensive consultation with society, to not generate this type of controversy."

The civil rights group Grupo Gay da Bahia says 260 gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgender people were murdered in Brazil last year. That was up 113 percent from 2005.

"Evangelical church groups and their allies in Congress threatened to block any upcoming legislation unless President Rousseff halted the films," adds the BBC.

LGBT activists are outraged and want the decision reversed.

In March, the U.S. and Brazil announced they would promote LGBT rights among member nations of the Organization of American States Earlier this month, Brazil's Supreme Court unanimously ruled that same-sex civil unions must be recognized.

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Comments

[Account Deleted]

It's a shame they don't get practitioners of the many multiple Afro-Brazilian religions prevalent in Brazil to counter this. It would be smart and productive only because they don't condemn LGBT and have played a huge role in the spiritual/religious lives many LGBT Brazilians. As usual, Christianity continues to hog the spotlight and glorify itself.

[Gustavo Bitencourt]

Actually, the justification by the President herself, recorded on video was "I will not allow propaganda of sexual options endorsed by the government" (yes, she said "options"). When asked about what she thought of the videos that would be distributed, she claimed "I didn't see them. I only saw excerpts of one video you guys from the press keep on showing".

It is important to emphasize Dilma Roussef during presidential campaign put up the image of the Human Rights candidate. She stood up for a National Program of Human Rights, which contains several goals concerning de-criminalization of abortion, gay rights, indigenous population, and sustainable planning.