Brazil’s Supreme Court makes homophobia a criminal offence
- According to one NGO, there were 387 murders and 58 suicides blamed on ‘homotransphobia’ in 2017 – one every 19 hours
Brazil’s Supreme Court voted on Thursday to criminalise homophobia.
The Supreme Federal Court (STF), which voted eight to three in favour of the measure, classified homophobia as a crime similar to racism, until Congress – which is held by a conservative majority and is strongly influenced by evangelical churches – passes a law specifically addressing such discrimination.
“All prejudice is violence. All discrimination is a cause of suffering,” said judge Carmen Luzia while voting in favour of the measure. “But I learned that some prejudices cause more suffering than others.”
According to the NGO Grupo Gay de Bahia, which has collected statistics for the past four decades, there were 387 murders and 58 suicides over “homotransphobia” in 2017, a 30 per cent increase from 2016. This works out to one LGBT death by suicide or murder every 19 hours in Brazil.
The country’s highest court considered it neglect of legislative power not to have outlawed such discrimination until now.
But the three judges that voted against the measure said criminalising homophobia was Congress’s job, not the court’s.