September was marred by a discussion that seemed entirely out of season: the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies debated a bill aimed at prohibiting homosexual civil unions – in short, preventing same-sex couples from getting married. Although considered unconstitutional by many Brazilian lawyers, the bill has not yet reached a specific conclusion. In other words, there are chances that Brazil may regress centuries in history simply to appease the ego of an imposing faction imposing their principles on the entire population.
The current debate can lead us to reflect on an essential issue: the need for diverse groups to represent the population in the Supreme Court.
All the morbidity behind prejudice
As the obvious needs to be said, let’s state the obvious: the meaning of “prejudice,” according to the Oxford Languages dictionary, is a hostile feeling, assumed as a result of hasty generalization from personal experience or imposed by the environment. On the other hand, “phobia” means an exaggerated fear or lack of tolerance. To have prejudice or phobia against any group simply means to fear the existence of that person, and logically speaking, the right thing to do with fear is to rid oneself of it.
Yes, you’ve understood my point: prejudice is nothing more than denying a person’s existence and condemning their life to the need for disappearance. Having diverse groups in high political positions like the Supreme Court means showing an entire population that those people not only exist but are just as many people as any white cisgender man.
The presence of diversity in politics
Women make up 26.4% in parliaments and 17.7% in the chamber. Black individuals, in total, constitute 26% of parliamentarians. Considering all positions in the Legislative and Executive branches at all federal levels, municipalities, states, and the Union, which result from elections, LGBTQ+ individuals occupy only 0.16% of political positions.
All of this represents a dangerously significant phenomenon of mirroring in society. Let me explain: we are influenced to believe that an entire population can be represented by micro-realities. Politics is one of them. From the moment that almost 75% of politics is composed of white-cisgender-men, it is implied that the everyday reality is that the white, heterosexual, male norm is correct.
Moreover, it’s these men who often lack any real knowledge about the issues at hand who make decisions for hundreds of thousands of cis and trans women, black people, gay and lesbian individuals, and the economically disadvantaged. How many times have you spoken to a man who explained obvious facts to you, thinking he understood more about your cause? So, it’s this guy who is now in Congress making decisions about how your life will unfold in society.
An example of the real-world
The former federal deputy Jean Wyllys used social media to criticize the decision of the governor of Rio Grande do Sul, Eduardo Leite, to maintain civic-military schools in the state. He said, “It was expected that heterosexual right-wing and far-right governors would do this. But a gay man? Although gays with internalized homophobia often develop a libido and fetishes related to authoritarianism and uniforms.”
On International Women’s Day, federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) took to the floor to criticize feminism and “men who identify as women.” Wearing a blonde wig, he presented himself as “Deputy Nikole” to claim that the place of women was being “stolen” by such men.
Camilo Cristófaro, a city councilor in the state of São Paulo, said the following phrase during a virtual session: “They didn’t even wash the sidewalk; it’s a black thing, right?”
Councilor Tarcísio Jardim disregarded that the creation of life is the responsibility of two – a man and a woman – and chose to attack only the part that often has to make the decision to proceed or not with an unplanned pregnancy. He criticized women seeking support from the government to safely terminate an unplanned pregnancy, saying, “They want to use abortion as a contraceptive method. Irresponsible women who don’t know how to take responsibility for their own actions want to outsource their guilt and the consequences of their actions.”
This is the reality of Brazilian politics – just a few examples among hundreds that occur daily. As long as politics doesn’t change, neither will society.
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The article above was edited by Isadora Quaglia.
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