Nearly 450 LGBT+ people were killed in violence in Brazil in 2017.
New research has suggested that nearly 450 LGBT people were killed at the hands of homophobes and transphobes in Brazil in 2017. Brazil also has the highest number of murders in the world. A record 62,000 murders were recorded in 2016.
Grupo Gay De Bahia an LGBT+ watchdog, recorded a 30 percent increase from the 327 victims killed during 2016. The new figures equate to nearly one violent death every 19 hours. There were 387 murders and 58 suicides linked to homophobia.
Last year being gay was ruled a disease in the country, when a court in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia, ruled that homosexuality was a disease and that so-called “gay cure” therapy was legal.
This is despite same-sex marriage being legal in the country and Rio De Janeiro hosting one of the world’s largest LGBT+ pride events. The country also has discrimination protections for its LGBT+ community enshrined in law.
Luiz Mott, president of Grupo Gay de Bahia told The Guardian that ultra-conservative politicians could have contributed towards the rise in homophobia in the country. He said, “It’s a discourse that destroys solidarity and equates LGBT people to animals,”
