Brazil is not doing well, politically speaking.
President Jair Bolsonaro has been facing mounting domestic criticism over his rhetoric regarding the environment as large sections of the Amazon Rainforest burn.
He’s the type of president who likes to ‘control the narrative’ when it comes to how his country is represented in the media.
When it comes to gender politics, Brazil is also not ranking very high on the tolerance or equality scale.
Last year, Brazilian councilwoman, feminist and human rights activist Marielle Franco was brutally murdered in Rio de Janeiro, less than two hours after she delivered a speech. She was a critic of police abuse against disadvantaged communities and gender violence. At the time of her death, she was one of Brazil’s most prominent advocates of reproductive, civil and queer rights.
Her family believes that her murder was politically motivated.
Which brings us to Marcelo Crivella, Rio de Janeiro’s evangelical mayor, who thinks that the children of Brazil have to be protected from an innocent kiss between two men, which featured in a Marvel Avengers comic.
Here’s The Huffington Post:
Mayor Marcelo Crivella, a former Pentecostal bishop, had demanded the comic be pulled from a book fair, because of its “sexual content for minors.” He ordered a raid by police on Thursday to seek out and seize the book to “defend the family,” The New York Times reported.
I’ll let the bigoted mayor speak for himself. You’re going to want to go to the settings button, select ‘subtitles’, and then click ‘English’ for this one:
Sure. Two people who love each other, showing a bit of affection, in a comic book. Scary stuff.
The image that apparently upset Crivella features comic book boyfriends Wiccan and Hulkling kissing while fully clothed in the book “Avengers: The Children’s Crusade.”
A judge on Friday temporarily halted the crackdown on the book, the BBC reported. But another judge ruled on Saturday that gay and lesbian content for children should not be publicly displayed.
Sorry, not sorry. It’s too late for that. In a fantastic clapback, the daily newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo featured the kiss on its front page this past weekend.
It gets better:
The comic book quickly sold out at the fair after Crivella complained, CNN reported.
The Children’s Crusade series has been available in Brazil since 2012, and the luxury hardcover volume at the book fair was released three years ago. Wiccan and Hulkling hadn’t been an issue until Crivella made them one.
The mayor maintains that homosexuality is evil. The mayor is an idiot.
Gay relationships have been portrayed in Marvel comics since the early 1990s. Same-sex marriage has been legal in Brazil since 2013.
Rodrigo Azambuja of Rio’s public defenders’ office, who was involved in the court action against the mayor, said same-sex relationships are protected in the nation, noted the Times.
“Under Brazilian law,” he said, “all families are equal.”
Unfortunately, these laws haven’t stopped bigots from being elected to office.
Shout out to Folha de Sao Paulo. Good work, guys.
[source:huffpost]
