Brazil: a racist in the Human Rights Commission

The name of the new absurd in Brazil is Marco Feliciano. He is a Brazilian congressman, an evangelical pastor and also the new President of the Commission for Human Rights and Minorities of the Brazilian House of Representatives.

His election has been the subject of numerous debates that show the real face of Brazil to the world. A nation where progress and backwardness live side by side and where the evident mixing of races much time veils a terrible aggression of a deep prejudice and a culture of disrespect in Brazilian society. 

The problem is that in the past Feliciano wrote is his Twitter account things like: “on the African continent lies the curse of paganism, occultism, misery, diseases originating from there: Ebola, AIDS, hunger... Etc." ("sobre o continente africano repousa a maldição do paganismo, ocultismo, misérias, doenças oriundas de lá: ebola, aids, fome... Etc."). 

He is also known for his anti-gay remarks. Speaking in his church the pastor referred to AIDS as a “gay cancer”. In his website he claimed that “science itself reveals the prevalence this disease in homosexuals; hospitals do not accept blood donation from this group.” Since the 7th of March, the new President of the Commission for Human Rights and Minorities has been accused of racism and homophobia by hundreds of protesters in São Paulo and Brasília. 

Now, parliamentarians from PSOL (Socialism and Freedom Party), PSB (Brazilian Socialist Party) and PT (Workers Party) filed a new application in the Supreme Court questioning the legality of Feliciano election.

The absurd of Feliciano election lies in the core of Brazilian political establishment. Today, the Evangelical Parliamentary Front, a group of politicians linked to the evangelical churches, is getting stronger in Brazil and trying to push their medieval agenda.

For example, the same Evangelical Parliamentary Front questions the Resolution of the Federal Council of Psychology in Brazil that prevents psychologists from treating sexual orientation as a patient’s disease. Since 2012, the group is trying to introduce a new law that would allow treat sexual orientation as a disease.