LGBTQ people in Brazil

LGBTQ people in Brazil represent an estimated 5.2% of the Brazilian population.

In Brazil, civil unions between same-sex couples were legalized in 2011, and marriage, in 2013. Adoption is also already a right guaranteed to LGBTQ people.

History

Pre-Cabraline era There is considerable evidence that homosexuality was socially accepted among Indigenous peoples. According to the researcher Abelardo Romero, homosexuality "had spread for centuries among the native Brazilians as if it were a contagious disease". Von Martius also reported the astonishment of the Portuguese at the anthropophagy and sodomy practiced by Indigenous peoples, as did the priest Manuel da Nóbrega, who in 1549 remarked that many settlers kept Indigenous men as wives "according to the custom of the land".

Among the Tupinambá, the Tratado Descritivo do Brasil (1587), written by Gabriel Soares de Souza, refers to both male and female homosexuality. It describes that the "sin against nature" was well accepted, and that the person taking the active role was considered brave, recounting the act as an achievement. There were also individuals who maintained public tents for those who wanted them as public women, indicating possible male prostitution.

The Tupinaés, neighbors of the Tupinambá, were "much more subject to the sin against nature than the Tupinambá". In 1576 the Portuguese writer Pero de Magalhães de Gândavo also reported that the Indigenous people "give themselves to the vice (of sodomy) as if they had no reason of men". Among the Guaicurú, there are also accounts of transvestism, such as the cudinas, castrated men who dressed as women and carried out exclusively female tasks such as weaving. In the Bororo tribe, young men gathered in the baito (or men's house), where women could not enter and where youths engaged in sexual relations quite naturally. In Indigenous medicine itself, treatment was sometimes carried out through sexual relations between the shaman and the sick, including anal intercourse, as among the Coeruna. Among shamans, healing knowledge was transmitted from the elder shaman to his apprentices through sexual intercourse, in which the student submitted to the elder.

Colonial period With the arrival of the Portuguese, the Portuguese legal codes began to apply in Brazilian territory, classifying sodomy as the "most vile, filthy and dishonest sin".

LGBTQ rights

Recognition of same-sex unions as a family entity

On 5 May 2011, the Supreme Federal Court unanimously recognized the existence of a family entity known as a same-sex union between homosexual couples. As a result, the rights granted to same-sex couples became similar in some respects to those of a stable union, including pensions, retirement benefits and inclusion in health insurance plans. The full effects of this decision were not immediately clear at the time, as it was still uncertain whether same-sex couples would be able to marry. In her vote, Justice Ellen Gracie Northfleet stated that "a decent society is a society that does not humiliate its members", while Justice Luiz Fux said that "homosexuality characterizes the humanity of a person. It is not a crime. So why cannot a homosexual constitute a family? Because of two issues that are abhorred by our Constitution: intolerance and prejudice".

Civil movements and activity in institutional politics

Among the first organized groups was Somos, from São Paulo, considered the first homosexual association with primarily political goals, founded in 1978. It was dissolved in 1983. At the beginning of the 1980s there were about 22 such groups across the country, especially in the Rio–São Paulo axis.

In politics, the defense of LGBTQ rights has been carried out predominantly by politicians sympathetic to the movement, as openly homosexual elected representatives have historically been rare. Among them was Clodovil Hernandes (died in 2009), the first openly homosexual person elected as a federal deputy, although he adopted a strongly critical stance toward the LGBTQ rights movement and did not consider himself elected by the LGBTQ population. Also notable is José Cláudio de Araújo, mayor of Paraty from 2001 to 2004, referred to as the first openly gay mayor in the country. Jean Wyllys, a federal deputy elected in 2010 who is openly homosexual, has been one of the most prominent defenders of the LGBTQ community in the Brazilian Congress.

Given the small number of openly LGBTQ candidates, the number of elected officials has also been very limited. In the 2008 municipal elections, those elected as city councillors included the travesti Leo Kret (Salvador), Moacyr Sélia, better known as Moa (Nova Venécia, Espírito Santo), and Isaías Martins de Oliveira (Patos de Minas, Minas Gerais), as well as the openly gay politicians José Itaparandi (Paço do Lumiar, Maranhão), and Sander Simaglio (Alfenas, Minas Gerais). Also cited are Vilson José Porcíncula, councillor in Tijucas, Santa Catarina, and Anselmo Fabiano Santos, councillor in Itaúna, Minas Gerais (the ABGLT lists Anselmo as an ally rather than gay). The vice-mayor of João Alfredo, Pernambuco, Dimas Prazeres dos Santos, is also openly homosexual, despite serving as deputy to Severino Cavalcanti, known for his homophobic positions. Another notable figure is Kátia Tapety, the first transgender person to hold political office in Brazil (city councillor in 1992 and vice-mayor in 2004) in Colônia do Piauí, Piauí.

Although LGBTQ rights were not part of her political platform, Pará state deputy Eulina Rabelo gained national attention after being considered ineligible to run for mayor of Viseu in 2004 because she maintained a same-sex relationship, widely known in the city, with the incumbent mayor Astrid Cunha (mayor of Viseu from 1996 to 2004). Another politician whose sexual orientation was revealed involuntarily was the former mayor of Poá, Jorge Allen.

+Milestone in electoral politicsPersonElection dateOfficeFirst bisexual councillor electedRenildo José dos Santos1992Councillor of Coqueiro SecoFirst transgender person electedKátia TapetyCouncillor of Colônia do PiauíFirst transgender vice-mayorKátia Tapety2004Vice-mayor of Colônia do PiauíFirst openly homosexual federal deputyClodovil Hernandes2006Federal deputy for São PauloFirst transgender councillor in a state capitalLeo Kret2008Councillor of SalvadorFirst LGBTQ activist parliamentarianJean Wyllys2010Federal deputy for Rio de JaneiroFirst openly homosexual mayor electedEdgar de Souza2012Mayor of LinsFirst openly homosexual senator electedFabiano Contarato2018Senator for Espírito SantoFirst openly homosexual governorsEduardo Leite and Fátima Bezerra2018 (RS, RN)Governors of Rio Grande do Sul and Rio Grande do Norte, respectivelyFirst transgender federal deputiesErika Hilton and Duda Salabert2022 (SP, MG)Federal deputies for São Paulo and Minas Gerais, respectively

Demographics Demographic research The sex composition of the LGBTQ population is distributed as follows: 64% male and 36% female. The composition of declared sexual orientation of the study population is distributed as follows: 5.76% identifies as asexual, 0.93% said they were lesbian, 1.37% gay, 2.12% bisexual, 0.68 trans, and 1.18% non-binary. The education of the LGBTQ population is distributed as follows: 57% have higher degree (university or college) complete, 40% have high school (school) complete. The composition of housing condition of the LGBTQ population is distributed as follows: 52% live with parents or relatives, 22% live with partners, 20% live alone, 6% live with friends.LGBT Census – Brazil

In 2010, a survey conducted by Ministry of Health of Brazil revealed that the Brazilian gay population has more money than heterosexual population. The homosexuals were: A and B classes, 26.9%, C class, 49.9%, D and E classes, 23.2%. The heterosexuals were: A and B classes, 18.2%, C class, 47.8%, D and E classes 34%.In 2007, a survey conducted by Insearch revealed that gays of Brazil spend 40% more on items related to leisure than heterosexuals. 84% traveled to Brazil four times over the past 12 months and 36% went abroad in the last three years. The Brazilian gays also read more, 88% read newspapers, and 94% read magazines. 73% have a habit of go to the movies three times a month on average, 46% go to the theater once a month and 57% buy eight books a year. Surpassing the national average.

Approximately 80% of Brazilian LGBTQs reside in large cities, 20% came from interior. The large cities of Brazil, known as gay-friendly, often contain a number of gay-oriented establishments, such as gay bars and pubs, gay nightclubs, gay bathhouses and gay restaurants. The most famous gay village of São Paulo is the Frei Caneca Street and in Rio is the Farme de Amoedo Street.LGBT areas in Brazil

Pride Celebrations

In São Paulo there is an annual Gay Pride Parade recording three to five million in attendance since 2019. People all over world travel to attend this event, it broke guinesse world records in 1997 and 2006 for holding the biggest pride parade in the world at 2.5 million people (for that point in time). The gay pride Parade in Brazil also draws more than 400,000 visitors and generates more than $100 million in economic activity.

LGBTQ Legislature

There have been great movements forward in policymaking regarding the protection and support of the LGBTQ+ community in Brazil, as noted in LGBTQ rights in Brazil. Equaldex has recorded the policies and rights created in Acre, Brazil, in support of the LGBTQ+ community. This consists of non-binary gender federal recognition, the ban on conversion therapy, removal of restrictions for gender changing surgeries, hate crime protections, legality in the military, and more.

Same-sex couples

Same-sex relationships in the same home by Brazilian regions, according to the 2010 IBGE Census: RankRegion Same-sex CouplesSame-sex Couplesrank 1 Southeast 32,202 1 2 Northeast 12,196 2 3 South 8,000 3 4 Central-West 4,141 4 5 North 3,429 5

GDP per capita Same-sex couples had more GDP per capita (annual) than Opposite-sex couples, according to the 2010 IBGE Census: GDP per capita (annual) Opposite-sex Couples Same-sex Couples < R$3,270 (miserable) 9.2% 3.4% R$3,270 < R$6,540 (poor) 18.72% 15.6% R$6,540 < R$13,080 (relatively poor) 10.56% 25.14% R$13,080 < R$32,700 (lower middle class) 10.56% 20.5% R$32,700 < R$65,400 (middle class) 3.41% 9.55% R$65,400 < R$130,800 (upper middle class) 1.05% 3.77% > R$130,800 (rich) 0.34% 1.4%

Homophobia and transphobia

Homophobia in Brazil remains an ongoing and persistent problem, with statistics compiled by the Grupo Gay da Bahia, on the basis of which the group argues that Brazil is the most homophobic country in the world.

In April 2009, the Grupo Gay da Bahia released its survey of cases verified in 2008, reporting that 190 people were murdered in Brazil that year, of whom 64% were gay men, 32% were travestis, and 4% were lesbians, an increase of 55% over the 2007 figures, keeping the country as the one recording the highest number of crimes of a homophobic nature. The survey also concluded that the risk of a travesti being murdered was 259 times higher than that of a gay man, with Pernambuco as the most violent state. Since it began the research in 1980, the group had recorded 2,998 murders. In 2010, young homosexuals were attacked on Avenida Paulista in São Paulo.

Visibility and cultural references