Thirty-eight same-sex couples tied the knot at a mass gay wedding ceremony in São Paulo, Brazil. Local LGBT advocacy group Casa1 organized the mass wedding at its premises.
After announcing its intention, it managed to raise around $12,000 to help cover the expenses of the event. A team of volunteers also helped to create dresses, decorate the venue, style hair and prepare food.
Many LGBT people in the South American country are fearful for their rights following the election of the far-right leader Jair Bolsonaro, to the position of President.
Bolsonaro has made numerous homophobic statements, including,"Yes, I’m homophobic and very proud of it". He also once suggested that if parents see their son "acting a little bit gay" they should beat him "to make him normal".
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Brazil since 2013. However, some gay and bisexual people worry that once in office, Bolsonaro may roll back some of their rights.
No step backwards!
Proud Brazil!
One of the factors in the rise of anti-gay sentiment in Brazil have been the incredible rise in the percent of the population which has embraced conservative forms of Evangelism, or the Protestant Christian religion, in the past 50 years. Brazil used to be an overwhelmingly Catholic nation - with a syncretic religious culture that produced amazing demonstrations of rich sensuality such as the annual Carnival festivities. Now, according to Wikipedia. the Catholic Church is in decline, with only 64% of the population identifying as such. Conservative megachurches, many of which are rapidly anti-LGBT, are gaining congregants in huge numbers. According to NBC News, on October 5, "Bolsonaro has also made common cause with evangelical Christians, who support eliminating legal abortion and gay rights. Brazil is the largest Catholic country in the world, but evangelicals now account for nearly one-third of its population, up from 3 percent in 1970. The evangelical caucus controls a fifth of Brazil’s lower house of Congress, and the upcoming elections are likely to sweep an even larger number of evangelicals into all levels of public office.".
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