Continuing with the coverage of municipal elections, the website The Cape sent questions to all LGBT candidates for councilor in the city of São Paulo. The same questions were sent to the 10 representatives of the gay community who are running for a seat on the city's City Council. Below you can check out the interview with Frederico Sosnowski, PSOL candidate.
How did the opportunity arise for you to run for councilor?
PSOL is a party very open to proposals and the participation of its members, in addition it is one of the few that places respect for Diversity and the rights of minorities as a non-negotiable agenda in its statutes. I expressed a desire to do something bigger for the city and the country, leaving the inertia that life in the city of São Paulo induces in us, I dated PSOL a lot before deciding to join, I participated in some activities and, after a vacation, I received a statement from the municipal directory about the start of registrations for the choice of councilors and mayor, I was reinvigorated from the trip and with all the energy to change the world, I decided to take the plunge, participate in the process and here I am! I have learned a lot and the desire to change the world is growing every day! (Okay, changing the world seems too utopian, but if I can't do it, I at least want to change São Paulo and make it more tolerant and diverse.)
What sets you apart from other candidates?
Firstly, I have all the youth and the hormones it gives me to burn, the Combativeness, the Curiosity, and the fact that I know the city and especially the outskirts (I live in Pirituba, on the other side of the Tietê River and I have friends all over the city. I know what it's like to be LGBT, in the center and on the periphery, are other characteristics that differentiate me. Furthermore, I'm not ashamed to accept my mistakes, much less restrictions in receiving and/or asking for support from other people to fight for a greater cause, I have them. the protection of the ideals and flags defended by PSOL, and I know that only a party that openly defends the rights of minorities will be able to do so free from repression and prejudice.
What are your main proposals?
– Guarantee the implementation of the proposals of the LGBT Municipal Conference;
– Education: Education in Human Rights and Sexual Diversity, application of the Municipal Education Plan;
– Youth: Support and protection of LGBT adolescents/young people, training of employees of guardianship councils, psychological assistance to those who have suffered violence and their families, campaigns against discrimination and programs to encourage study, employment and income.
– Health: Training and awareness of health professionals for humanized and comprehensive care for the LGBT population;
– Social Assistance: Expansion of the Diversity Reference Center, so that it can welcome homeless LGBT people from other regions of the city, providing the necessary assistance and social inclusion policies;
– Security: Training of GCM and other security professionals in combating homophobia, survey of statistics on cases of violence and assistance;
– Culture: Creation of cultural centers and inserting activities linked to LGBT culture into the city calendar, in the life of neighborhoods and public facilities (Libraries, Parks, etc.);
– Others: Use of social names for transvestites and transsexuals; creation of diversity reference centers in the regions; vote against any Bill or Decree that excludes, discriminates, restricts or differentiates the rights of the LGBT community in relation to heterosexuals.
How do you intend to help combat homophobic attacks on the streets of SP?
Firstly, ensuring space for tolerance in São Paulo with secular and diversity education, insertion of activities that promote the LGBT community in the city's cultural and sporting calendar, mapping cases of violence and intensifying security with actions that also include policies social assistance and the creation of Reference Centers. It is worth remembering that the presence of an LGBT councilor or bench in the São Paulo City Council would already be a milestone for the opening of LGBT citizenship in the city.
In your opinion, what is the biggest problem currently facing the LGBT population in São Paulo?
Besides the traffic that affects everyone? The lack of respect for difference, which leads to cases of physical and psychological violence, lack of service in public and private services and which deprives LGBT people of being who they really are. This is made worse by the city's lack of investment in community proposals.
How do you intend to build your political allies?
There are some ways to obtain political allies, one of them is in meetings with councilors and members of parties that are sympathetic to the LGBT cause and defenders of minorities, another way (and the one that I consider to be the main one) is public opinion and organized society. Thus, much more important than negotiations between political entities, activists, NGOs and society as a whole will be invited to participate in legislative processes and give their opinion, act and complain to councilors (and the executive too, why not?) in the time to build and vote on projects of interest to LGBT people. If elected, my mandate will be to apply participatory democracy to the legislature, since before taking office.
To find out more about the candidates for the municipal elections, visit the blog LGBT elections.
