SAO PAULO – The Brazilian Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that homophobia should be criminalized under existing legislation until Congress creates a specific law for the subject, on a topic which drew the ire of President Jair Bolsonaro.
Eight of 11 justices voted to treat homophobia as racism under Brazilian law, making it a criminal act.
Evangelicals and other socially conservative Brazilians helped Bolsonaro win last year’s election as he promised to overturn years of liberal social policies.
Bolsonaro, a Catholic baptized by an evangelical pastor in Israel three years ago, had a history of making homophobic, racist and sexist public remarks before he took office in Jan. 1.
He told one interviewer he would rather have a dead son than a gay son. (Reuters)
