{"id":220062,"date":"2019-06-23T22:45:48","date_gmt":"2019-06-24T02:45:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=220062"},"modified":"2019-06-23T22:45:48","modified_gmt":"2019-06-24T02:45:48","slug":"huge-crowds-for-lgbt-pride-parade-in-brazils-biggest-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/06\/23\/huge-crowds-for-lgbt-pride-parade-in-brazils-biggest-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Huge crowds for LGBT pride parade in Brazil’s biggest city"},"content":{"rendered":"
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LGBT activists won a major battle this month when Brazil’s Supreme Court voted to criminalize discrimination against homosexuals and transgender people. (Pexels Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

RIO DE JANEIRO \u2014 Hundreds of thousands of people filled a main S?o Paulo thoroughfare for one of the world’s largest LGBT pride parades \u2014 the first since the election of far-right President Jair Bolsonaro.<\/p>\n

Nineteen moving stages dotted the avenue with live performances by well-known Brazilian artists, while supporters cheered speeches by LGBT activists encouraging resistance to the wave of conservative politics that has swept Brazil.<\/p>\n

Participants collectively carried a huge rainbow flag down the avenue, with many more sporting rainbow hats, bracelets and T-shirts. The parade was dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in New York City.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of all we went through with the election, this is one of the most important pride parades to show that we are here, we are going to continue here to exist and resist,\u201d said Diego dos Santos Oliveira, one of the parade’s organizers.<\/p>\n

Many of those attending took aim at Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right former army captain who took office as Brazil’s president Jan. 1 and once described himself as a \u201cproud homophobe.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI will do everything I can do with my voice for you all, because we’re in this together,\u201d singer Luisa Sonza told the crowds. \u201cLong live love! Not him!\u201d she screamed, using an anti-Bolsonaro rallying cry.<\/p>\n

Some parade-goers carried signs calling for the president’s ouster. \u201cWe won’t be in the closet, nor in a grave. Out with Bolsonaro,\u201d read one banner.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to change society’s way of thinking,\u201d Patricia Luzivo said as she watched the parade. \u201cSo many people are dying for coming out of the closet and being homosexual.\u201d<\/p>\n

While S?o Paulo hosts one of the world’s largest pride parades and Rio de Janeiro is a well-known gay tourist destination, LGBT people in Brazil suffer high levels of violence. According to activist group Grupo Gay Bahia, 141 LGBT people were killed in homophobic crimes or committed suicide between January and May 15 of this year \u2014 an average of one every 23 hours.<\/p>\n

Many activists say Bolsonaro’s anti-gay rhetoric incites or legitimizes violence against LGBT people. He once said he would rather have a dead son than a gay son, and he made headlines in April when he told reporters that Brazil \u201ccan’t be a country of the gay world, of gay tourism.\u201d<\/p>\n

LGBT activists won a major battle this month when Brazil’s Supreme Court voted to criminalize discrimination against homosexuals and transgender people.<\/p>\n

Bolsonaro criticized the ruling as \u201ctotally wrong\u201d and said it will \u201cdeepen class wars.\u201d He also said the decision would hurt LGBT people because employers would be less inclined to hire LGBT employees because they could be taken to court \u201cif they make a joke.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014\u2014\u2014<\/p>\n

Association Press video journalist Alexandre Rampazzo in S?o Paulo contributed to this report.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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