The Serpent's Egg
17th February 2018

The Serpent’s Egg: LGBTI and Gender Debate Under Attack in Brazil
Thiago
(Content Note: discussion of homophobic transphobic & misogynistic violence, sexual assault)
Brazil is currently facing a huge challenge concerning the inclusion of LGBTI debate in spaces such as schools, museums and media. Moved by a moral conservative and religious agenda, right-wing groups are using the term ‘gender ideology’ to name any initiative that questions crystalized categories of gender or sexuality. They are mainly led by the non-government youth organisation Movimento Brasil Livre (MBL – Free Brazil Movement) and the political movement Escola sem
MBL was created in 2014 to fight corruption and defend
Escola sem
Both MBL and Escola sem
Partly due to these robust movements and the growth of conservative and fundamentalist religion within Brazilian society, Jair Bolsonaro, an evangelic far-right presidential candidate is in second place in polls for 2018 elections in Brazil. He got involved in many controversies as a congressman, including telling a congresswoman that he would not attempt to rape her because she was “not worthy“. Bolsonaro was the most voted for congressman in the state of Rio de Janeiro in the 2014 elections. Two years later, the city of Rio elected as mayor Marcelo Crivella, a licensed bishop of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God and nephew of Universal Church founder and media mogul, billionaire Edir Macedo.
Brazil is one of the most unsafe countries for LGBTI people on the planet. Despite hosting the largest pride parade in the world, one LGBT person is killed every 25 hours and videos of torture or brutal murders circulate on social media platforms. 533 women murdered were classified as
It seems we are currently living the perfect storm for the safety of LGBTI young people in and out of school environment in Brazil.
Image by Carlos Latuff
Thiago Bogossian is 27 years old and from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has been a Geography Teacher working with children and teenagers for 6 years and now and is currently a Master in Education student at the University of Glasgow. He has recently completed a placement as part of that course with LEAP Sports.