Brazil’s Supreme Court has ruled with a majority of 9-1 to equate homophobic hate speech with racist hate speech in terms of legal consequences, both of which are now punishable by imprisonment.
This ruling solidifies the commitment to providing equal protection under the law to LGBTQ+ citizens, as stated by lead judge Edson Fachin.
The court’s previous decision in 2019 had already established homophobia as a criminal offense, comparable to racism.
However, this pertained to discriminatory language directed at the LGBTQ+ community as a whole, rather than targeting specific individuals.
This recent case was brought forward by the rights group ABGLT, seeking to expand legal protections to include such targeted attacks.
Hate speech convictions in Brazil now carry prison sentences ranging from two to five years.
The ruling has been celebrated by LGBTQ+ advocates, with transgender lawmaker Erika Hilton taking to social media to share her jubilation, referring to it as a “Victory against LGBT-phobia.”
This legal progression comes as Brazil grapples with high rates of violence against LGBTQ+ individuals. I
n the past year alone, rights organizations documented 228 murders of LGBTQ+ people in the country.
Shockingly, Brazil holds the unfortunate distinction of being the world’s deadliest nation for transgender individuals, with Transgender Europe reporting 1,741 murders within the span of 2008 to 2022.
