{"id":80437,"date":"2022-01-20T14:26:53","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T19:26:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsroom.carleton.ca\/?post_type=cu_story&p=80437"},"modified":"2025-08-19T09:37:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T13:37:11","slug":"bolsonaro-hurting-lgbtq-sex-workers","status":"publish","type":"cu_story","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/story\/bolsonaro-hurting-lgbtq-sex-workers\/","title":{"rendered":"Jair Bolsonaro’s administration is hurting the lives of LGBTQ+ sex workers in Brazil"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n Jair Bolsonaro's administration is hurting the lives of LGBTQ+ sex workers in Brazil\n <\/h1>\n \n <\/header>\n <\/div>\n\n \n <\/path>\n <\/path>\n <\/svg>\n <\/div>\n\n \n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

This article is republished<\/a> from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. All photos provided by The Conversation<\/a> from various sources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brazil has achieved accomplishments related to the rights and visibility of marginalized communities in the last two decades \u2014 from social innovations to educational change<\/a>. However, LGBTQ+ sex workers of all genders are facing stigmatization and discrimination<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A major cause for this is Jair Bolsonaro, Brazil\u2019s far-right president<\/a>. When he was elected in 2018, the violence against LGBTQ+ sex workers began to be state endorsed, making it much harder for sex workers to do their jobs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This discrimination is furthered because Brazil is a predominantly conservative society<\/a> with a fast-growing fundamentalist Pentecostal population<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Brazilian anthropologist and professor at Universidade Federal da Bahia, Luiz Mott, every 26 minutes an LGBTQ+ person was murdered or took their own life<\/a>, in 2020. Brazil is dangerous for LGBTQ+ people<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bolsonaro has said some heinous things about LGBTQ+ people and sex workers. He publicly declared (translated from Portuguese) \u201cI\u2019m not going to fight or discriminate, but if I spot two men kissing in the street, I\u2019ll beat them up<\/a>,\u201d and that \u201c90 per cent of adopted boys are going to be gay and will be sex workers for the couple<\/a>.\u201d He said in a TV interview on Participa\u00e7\u00e3o Popular<\/em> \u201c[If] the kid begins to look gay-ish, you just beat him up really bad and this will fix him. Right?<\/a>\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Recently my research has led me to look into the shift occurring at venues where male sex workers, specifically men who have sex with men, labour in Rio de Janeiro and Recife. Rio de Janeiro is an international hub for gay tourism<\/a> and Bolsonaro\u2019s voting home base. While Recife is becoming one of the major cities in the northeast for domestic gay tourism<\/a>, it is one of the cities with the largest number of anti-Bolsonaro votes<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sex work in Brazil<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sex work and soliciting sex are not criminalized in Brazil, but sex work in general is not regulated. The regulation has been sitting in the National Congress, waiting to be voted on since 2012. It comes in the form of Bill 4211\/2012, also called \u201cProjeto de lei Gabriela Leite<\/em>,\u201d<\/a> and has been facing fierce resistance from conservative lobbyists in the house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The debate about sex work regulation was sanctioned by the social demand for public policies during the governments of Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva<\/a>. Feminist and LGBTQ+ movements pushed this debate but were repressed with the election of Bolsonaro<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"LGBTQ
\n Wallace Louzada Hansen (pictured) is a sex worker and friend of the author, he has been negatively impacted by Bolsonaro\u2019s administration.<\/span>
\n (Wallace Louzada Hansen)<\/span>, Author provided<\/span><\/span>
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The reality for sex workers in Brazil is grim. Through my research I\u2019ve interviewed and met many male sex workers. One of the men I interviewed through previous research told me it was better to be undocumented, face racism and social invisibility in Canada than to be a sex worker in Rio de Janeiro<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He explained that he left Brazil because he was exposed to sexual, physical and psychological violence at work. When I asked if he ever tried going to the police he replied \u201cbecause the police are also the ones who could rape me at raids. So, I wanted nothing from them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until Bolsonaro\u2019s election win, sex workers had been gaining rights. His ultra-far-right, homophobic, racist and mysogynistic views have made the reality much worse. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In an interview with Huck Magazine<\/em><\/a>, anthropologist Thaddeus Blanchette says brothels were on the decline before Bolsonaro came into power, but now they\u2019re opening back up. Blanchette says: <\/p>\n\n\n

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\u201cWhat that means is this whole structure of negotiations with the police, with the law and with judges has to be renegotiated. And of course, in this process the workers have no rights whatsoever. Instead, these brothels are a major income generator for Rio\u2019s police and militia gangs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Bolsonaro\u2019s necropolitical agenda targeting LGBTQ+ people, sex workers and other marginalized people together with the COVID-19 pandemic has been disastrous<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n The squat known as Casa Nem is occupied by members of the LGBTQ+ community who are in self-quarantine as a protective measure against COVID-19 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.<\/span>
\n (AP Photo\/Silvia Izquierdo)<\/span><\/span>
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In 2022, I will conduct research that I am sure will reveal a country devastated by the pandemic, with LGBTQ+ people facing social persecution. While the results will no doubt be painful, the research will be conducted during a crucial moment for Brazil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year, the country completes 200 years of independence and, more importantly, will have a federal election \u2014 former president Luiz In\u00e1cio Lula da Silva leads all polls<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conservative reaction to the possible return of a socialist and LGBTQ+ friendly government is unpredictable and since male sex workers are not well organized \u2014 unlike their female peers<\/a> \u2014 their vulnerability is a major concern. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bolsonaro\u2019s leadership has had detrimental impact on the LGBTQ+ community. I\u2019m hopeful that a new government will be elected and the country will be able to get back on track when it comes to regulating sex work, implementing protective bills and improving the lives for sex workers across the country. Because sex work is work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\nCarleton Newsroom<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons licence. All photos provided by The Conversation from various sources. Brazil has achieved accomplishments related to the rights and visibility of marginalized communities in the last two decades \u2014 from social innovations to educational change. However, LGBTQ+ sex workers of all genders are facing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":410,"featured_media":80440,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"cu_story_type":[1623],"cu_story_tag":[],"class_list":["post-80437","cu_story","type-cu_story","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","cu_story_type-expert-perspectives"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/80437","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/cu_story"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/410"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/80437\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":80446,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story\/80437\/revisions\/80446"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"cu_story_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_type?post=80437"},{"taxonomy":"cu_story_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cu_story_tag?post=80437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}