Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil’s charming president who once said that he would be incapable of loving a gay son and would rather have a dead one is at it again as he recently reiterated his position on LGBTQ rights in a meeting with Trump, according to Washington Blade.
On Tuesday, March 19th, Jair Bolsonaro met with Trump at the White House to discuss building a partnership between the United States and Brazil. During the meeting, Bolsonaro commented that he has always admired the United States and that his admiration increased once Trump took office. He also emphasized the Brazilian government’s insistence in maintaining “traditional family values” and his extreme dislike of gender identity, a topic that he wants to be removed from schools. I’m not surprised given my understanding of his views on LGBTQ rights and equality. I was not surprised in the least when he said his admiration for the US increased after Trump took office because I see similarities between the two.
During his campaign, he said that he believes that marriage is between one man and one woman and after he took office he issued an executive order saying that Brazil’s human rights ministry shouldn’t consider LGBTQ issues.
On the same day, Bolsonaro also met with televangelist Pat Robertson and other evangelicals and in that meeting, he said: “I recognize the work evangelicals do in my country, which is no different to what they do around the world — sharing the Word of God and strengthening family values.” I happen to see things a bit differently but that’s just me.
Jair Bolsonaro is definitely a danger to LGBTQ Brazilians because of his extreme views and praise of evangelicals who have historically been a very anti-gay group of people. In a meeting designed to strengthen the relationship between Brazil and the United States, I can’t imagine how mentioning that he supports “traditional family values” and opposes gender identity is particularly relevant unless he’s just trying to score some brownie points from Trump, who also doesn’t have the best track record for LGBTQ rights. The fact that he had to mention it at all is slightly alarming though.
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h/t: Washington Blade