Expanding Horizons: Raising Diversity Awareness on International LGBTQIA+ Pride Day

The main objective of this date is to make people aware of the importance of combating homophobia for the construction of a society free of prejudice and egalitarianism, regardless of the sexual gender of each one. It’s a date that celebrates joy and diversity, but it’s also a day of protest.

According to the Fundo Brasil website, around 20 million Brazilian men and women identify themselves as LGBTQIA+ people and 51% of these people reported having suffered some type of violence motivated by their sexual orientation or gender identity; 68% of young people belonging to this group have already been attacked or suffered some kind of threat and yes, there are also deaths.

But despite the picture presented, the struggle fought over the years by this community led to the achievement of several rights that are now provided for in the Constitution. Some of them are:

• The Stable Union between people of the same sex is recognized by the Federal Supreme Court.
• Transgender female prisoners have the right to be in women’s prisons.
• Transphobia and homophobia are considered crimes.
• Gender identity. Any trans citizen who wants to change the name on the documentation can make this change. In addition, the child’s birth record can also be multi parental, that is, it can contain the name of two mothers, or two fathers in the record.
• Gay men can donate blood since 2020
• Adoption by same-sex couples is recognized.

Despite the various achievements, it is still necessary for public policies to be expanded and for more and more actions to promote gender equality to take place. The best path to political and social well-being is equality, respect and inclusion for each and every person, regardless of creed, colour, ethnicity or gender. 

And long live diversity!

“Why, culturally, are we more comfortable seeing two men holding guns than holding hands?” – Ernest J. Gaines, North American writer.

In recent years, the movement began to use the reduced acronym LGBTQIA+, whose full term is LGBTQQICAPF2K+.