Brazil makes homophobic hate speech punishable by prison

Brazil’s high court has ruled that homophobic hate speech is on par with racial hate speech and punishable with a prison sentence of two to five years. The Supreme Court’s 9-1 ruling stated it was a “constitutional imperative” for LGBTQ+ people in the country to have this protection.

France 24 explained that the court already ruled in 2019 that homophobia was a crime on par with racism, but that ruling applied to the overall LGBTQ+ community, rather than to speech directed at specific people. The most recent lawsuit was brought by ABGLT, a Brazilian LGBTQ+ rights group.

Brazil’s current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is a staunch supporter of LGBTQ+ rights, unlike his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, who proudly proclaimed in 2013, “Yes, I am homophobic — and very proud of it.” Bolsonaro also said that he’d rather his son die…

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