The movement of gays, lesbians, transvestites, and transgender individuals has just provided Brazil with an example of organization and civic courage. In São Paulo, on June 17, 2001, the 5th Gay Pride Parade gathered around 270 thousand people on Avenida Paulista. In Porto Alegre, organized by the NGO Nuances, more than 15 thousand people took to the streets. The Brazilian press, with few exceptions, did not give these demonstrations the corresponding coverage that they represent as a journalistic event. If we consider the event in São Paulo, we are talking about the largest popular mobilization since the campaign for direct elections in 1984. This alone would be enough for major Brazilian newspapers to headline the parade. However, there are many other reasons to highlight this struggle.

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Firstly, the extent of prejudice mobilized against homosexuals in Brazil is striking. Marcelo Rubens Paiva, in a recent article in Folha de São Paulo, drew attention to the fact that the Corinthians fans, during the final against Grêmio, greeted the referee upon his entrance with the "war cry": "Faggot, faggot..." The columnist then asks: Can anyone imagine a crowd trying to offend a referee by shouting: straight, straight...? The question is valid because, in one or the other case, it is merely noting a potential sexual preference. Why should one deserve respect and the other defamation?

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Secondly, the scale of violence practiced against homosexuals in Brazil is staggering. In many Brazilian cities, heterosexual youths have fun by beating up boys who engage in sex work - hustlers or transgender individuals at their workplaces. On many occasions, it's the clients of these sex workers who end up being responsible for murders marked by extreme cruelty. The term for these crimes is "overkill" - as they represent a type of hate crime where victims are subjected to more than just death.

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Against all of this, gays, lesbians, transvestites, and transgender individuals take to the streets in Brazil. They ask for nothing more than respect. They demand what should be elementary in civilization: tolerance for their distinct ways of living and loving. From the heights of their sexual misery, many heterosexuals are still willing to ridicule these aspirations. However, their reactions reveal little more than ignorance and malice. So much the worse for them.

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Gay Pride Parades are here to stay. Through them, we discover the possibility of joining a social movement characterized by joy and hope. A movement that, unlike so many others, does not promote suffering or propose resentment. A movement that simply says: Every form of love is worthwhile! An expression whose importance, after all, can only be recognized by those who truly love. Isn't this, fundamentally, the obscure reason behind homophobia?

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"Dep. Marcos Rolim" dep.marcosrolim@camara.gov.br
Visit our homepage: http://www.rolim.com.br