Since I started writing this column about religion here on The Cape, I have warned about religious fundamentalism in Brazil, its collusion with politicians of all persuasions, its assault on the Secular State, its power project that advances gallopingly, its enormous political, economic and symbolic capital and the growth, in geometric progression, in Brazil.
In texts published here, the reader can read about the historical process of this theocratic, therefore, reactionary movement and its social and political implications for Brazil.
I wrote about Theology and Politics and also about Political Theology, a field of study of Theology and the importance that this area of knowledge takes, day by day, among us, because it reveals to us what is important beyond the facts we know, analyzing the phenomenon religious and political more deeply.
Since the first round, I have been warning about the harmful, unhealthy and perverted alliance between the fundamentalist wing and the institutional political power in our country and I have deconstructed the mistaken arguments of the three candidates who occupied the lead in polls of voting intentions (Dilma, José Serra and Marina ), the confusion they made with the terms "homosexual marriage" and "homosexual civil union", demonstrating how fallacious this confusion was with the clear objective of pleasing both sides of this fight: the LGBT and the fundamentalist evangelicals.
We are now in the second round of the presidential elections and we have watched, perplexed and awestruck, the (low) political game completely co-opted and instrumentalized by religious fundamentalism that has dictated the agenda of both candidates: "God", or rather, "god", entered Brazilian politics once and for all, to the disgrace of many and the happiness of few.
The issue of abortion and LGBT "marriage" or "civil union" occupied both candidates, who took positions in relation to issues dictated by the fundamentalist agenda. Newspapers, magazines, websites, radio and TV channels gave extensive coverage of the debate that took over the nation.
Dilma and José Serra had to form alliances with religious fundamentalist chiefs. She with Pastor Manoel Ferreira, Magno Malta, Marcelo Crivella and others. He is the biggest tormentor of LGBT people in Brazil, pastor Silas Malafaia, who has appeared in his free electoral propaganda, and even the "Pastor da Toalhinha", Waldomiro Santiago, has made appearances in tucana propaganda, saying: "If you believe in me , vote Serra!"
The tucana campaign has been hitting hard on the issue of abortion and in this fight it has dealt very low blows to Dilma Rousseff, using all kinds of perverse and perverted arguments to hinder her candidacy.
The word "god" became commonplace in the speeches and statements of both candidates: "god blessed me", "I prayed to god", "I spoke to god", "I thanked god"... The fact is that both candidates bowed to fundamentalism religious and made negotiations and pacts with him. Dilma even wrote "Dilma's Letter" to evangelicals, promising things like "Elected President of the Republic, I will not take the initiative to propose changes to points that deal with abortion legislation and other issues concerning the family and the free expression of any religion in the country", and, "With regards to PLC 122, if approved in the Senate, where it is currently being processed, it will be sanctioned in my future government in articles that do not violate freedom of belief, worship and expression and other individual constitutional guarantees existing in Brazil ."
José Serra has spoken out against abortion and declared that "marriage between homosexuals is a matter for the churches" and although he has said nothing about the alliance he formed with Silas Malafaia and Waldomiro Santiago, we know well that neither of them plays to lose and that both have pharaonic dreams and thirst for power. Who knows, maybe one day they will become the Roberto Marinho of fundamentalist evangelical communication with a little help from Planalto?
I know that religious fundamentalists negotiate hard and exchanging favors is never free. They are unaware of altruism and only practice social assistance. I have no doubt that both candidates promised much more than they declared to the fundamentalist chiefs who support them at the moment so that there is victory in the second round, as their support could resolve the dispute.
Regarding the LGBT issue, both candidates say they are in favor of LGBT "civil unions". The Letter that ABGLT sent to both of them and which was widely publicized in the media resolved, I believe, this issue of marriage and civil union. Since then, we have known from an official source that the Brazilian Homosexual Movement, unlike Argentina, Spain and Portugal, does not call for civil marriage, as already happens in these countries, but only for "stable" or "civil" unions, which for me is little, very little, beyond keeping LGBT people below heterosexuals in this right that should be for everyone.
Silas Malafaia in a recent video released, in which he starts a war with Edir Macedo because he insinuated that he will certainly have an advantage if Serra wins, in addition to calling him a false prophet, he declares that EVANGELICALS ARE AGAINST BOTH THINGS: UNION CIVIL AND MARRIAGE.
Here's a tip for ABGLT: if the fight will happen anyway, why don't we demand LGBT civil marriage soon? Why insist on "civil union", if this does not in fact grant us equal rights, thus keeping us in the second class of Brazilian citizenship? Regarding PLC 122, Dilma declared in her letter that she will veto articles that violate "freedom of belief, worship and expression". This means: pastors remain calm, you will continue to have the freedom to call LGBT people drug addicts, disease spreaders, sick people, comparing them to the lowest that exists in humanity as they do to this day, spreading the homophobia that kills and makes killing, contributing to the increase in the number of LGBT murders, in addition to the number of school dropouts and sons and daughters expelled from their homes for being LGBT.
José Serra and his deputy, Índio da Costa, have already declared that they are against PLC 122 as it "hurts" religious sentiment. I have the right to doubt that José Serra, if elected, will sanction any of its articles, since Silas Malafaia, his ally among fundamentalist evangelicals, is against PLC 122 in its entirety, as well as civil unions between equals.
The Letter that ABGLT published to the two candidates reminds both of their good work and contributions to the LGBT cause in Brazil, although, at a certain point, it slips into clear and open support for candidate Dilma when it declares that she is part of the government that "more did" for LGBT people in Brazil such as the Brazil Without Homophobia Program, in addition to the implementation of public policies in the most diverse areas targeting this public, such as the recognition of the social name of transvestites and transsexuals, the sex readjustment operation by the SUS, in addition of having convened the first LGBT conference in the world to debate public policies involving this part of society.
If you want to know what José Serra has done, just check his work at the Ministry of Health and his AIDS policy or check his work with this population in the state of São Paulo. The Sexual Diversity Coordinations (CADS), for example, are one of the fruits of this work.
What the Lula government and what the then minister of health and governor José Serra have already done for the LGBT population is history and no one can take that away from them, all that remains is the recognition of everyone for the tr
