When reading articles about Latin America this week, an article about Brazil caught my attention. As mentioned in my last analysis post, Brazil recently had a very heated presidential election, resulting in a shift in political power. For the past ten years, more democratic leaders and policies have dominated. Due to the more liberal policies put in place, the left has governed, promoted, and defended the diversity and rights of the different communities and people that make up the country. However, the tables turned due to the fact that a more conservative power is currently governing now.
One of the main controversial issues in Brazil right now is same sex marriage. The president that was just elected, Jiar Bolsonaro, is far right and is very homophobic. In 1999 psychological therpies of sexual reversal were banned by the governement, however very recently those bans have been lifted resulting in giving psychologists the right to treat homosexuality as a disease. The fact that this ban has been lifted is just a major setback for the LGBT community. Because this ban has been lifted for psychologists, it gives them the opportunity to promote discrimination through their work, which is already spreading all over Brazil. Same sex couples still aren’t even granted protection under Brazilian law and can only be married through a judicail decision, and that was during the time of liberal power. The population of Brazil is continuing to reverse their views on the LGBT community, with hashtags on social media poking fun at gays and lesbians. More and more deaths are occuring in the LGBT community as well. In just 2018 there have been 1876 complaints reguarding violations of the LGBT’s rights. There has been a climb in murder of members of the LGBT community as well, with a prominent rise in the cities São Paulo and Rio de Janiero. It is understandable to infer that more setbacks will take place over the next few years, especially under the rule of Jiar Bolsonaro.