End Of The Road For “Proud Homophobe” As Brazilians Welcome New Progressive President
Brazilians have celebrated the return to the presidential office of Luiz “Lula” da Silva, who has said he will work to repair the damage and “devastation” of his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro.
Brazil’s LGBTQIA+ community are among the groups celebrating the downfall of Bolsonaro, who once described himself as a “proud homophobe” and said he’d prefer his son died than come out as gay.
Drag queen and activist, Salete Campari told The Guardian, “I feel fabulously happy. Now Brazil’s LGBTQIA+ community can feel free because we have a president who respects diversity. It’s so important. Everyone is welcome now.”
The Guardian noted that, “during Bolsonaro’s four-year reign, the presidential palace was occupied by a predominantly white, male assembly of politicians and military officials, many of whom were unabashed about their disregard for Indigenous and traditional black communities, favela residents and members of Brazil’s civil rights movement.”
Hate crimes against the LGBTQIA+ community rose during the Bolsonaro era. Over 150 transgender people were killed in Brazil as of September 2020, a 70% increase from 2019, according to the National Association of Transvestites and Transsexuals (ANTRA).
Rene Silva, a Black favela activist was at Lula’s inauguration event and said: “I saw trans men and women, transvestites, drag queens, disabled people … there were pastors, priests and Afro-Brazilian religious leaders,” among the crowd.
One of the largest countries by land size in the world and with a population of 215 million, Brazil is also one of the most ethnically and culturally diverse, and observers say Lula has reflected this diversity in his cabinet appointments.
On Christmas Eve, police arrested a 54-year-old man who admitted to making a bomb that was found on a fuel truck headed to Brasilia’s airport, reports CBS. The man, a Bolsonaro supporter, told police he was ready for “war against communism”.
Outgoing President Bolsonaro did not attend the inauguration ceremony, as is the convention to signal the peaceful transition of power. Instead, he travelled to Miami. The purpose of the trip is unknown.
