Brazil's right-wing President Jair
Bolsonaro has criticized a Supreme Court ruling criminalizing
homophobia and transphobia in the South American nation.
On Thursday, Brazil's highest court
ruled 8-3 that homophobic and transphobic violence falls under the
nation's existing anti-racism laws. According to The
Wall Street Journal, such laws came into effect in 1989.
Brazil's Congress is controlled by
conservatives who are unlikely to approve laws prohibiting LGBT
discrimination. Such lawmakers are strongly influenced by evangelical
leaders.
Bolsonaro, who once proclaimed himself
to be a “proud homophobe” and campaigned on a pledge to defend
“the true meaning of matrimony as a union between man and woman,”
criticized the ruling, saying that it could “hurt” people who
identify as LGBT.
He told reporters on Friday that the
ruling could lead to employment discrimination against the LGBT
community. Employers would “think twice” before hiring a gay
person out of fear they could be accused of homophobia, he said.
USA
Today reported that 420 LGBT people across Brazil were
murdered last year.