A kiss took place this Sunday (12), promoted by the virtual group "Ato Anti-Homofobia", in front of the Ofner sweet shop, located in the Jardins region, in São Paulo. The reason: a gay couple was treated badly by the store's security guard when they exchanged caresses.
The reporter arrived at the scene around 17:30 pm and found a discreet but lively group of people. They demonstrated anxiety and fearfulness about the possibility of the act becoming a failure. We spoke to Mariana Motta, 22, an architecture student, who asked not to have the name of the university disclosed for fear of "reprisals".
Excited, Mariana said that in a short time of existence the virtual collective, which has the your Facebook page, already has more than 900 participants. She also said that on Saturday (11) she and her friends went to leaflet about the demonstration at Praça Benedito Calixto and Rua Augusta.
At around 18:15 pm, protesters began to arrive armed with dozens of rainbow-colored umbrellas and numerous posters. The person present at the event was journalist Leão Lobo, who declared himself "very scared" by the wave of homophobic attacks.
Lobo said he was once threatened by skinheads. "I was with some friends in a cafe in Copam, suddenly I heard 'Leão Lobo', I went to look thinking they were fans, but no, a bald man showed the middle finger and I saw that his t-shirt had a swastika", said the journalist .
Then, Lobo took the opportunity to also criticize Rede Globo's censorship in relation to gay kisses. "Today we live in the era of no kisses. It's very funny, Globo puts gays in all its soap operas, but always censors kisses between them. And we still see Walcyr Carrasco saying that the Public Prosecutor's Office is to blame. It's very easy place the blame on others", he protested.
The couple victim of homophobia inside Ofner store, Marcelo, 33, and Lucio, 30 (photo), participated in the event. They reported exactly what happened. According to Lucio, the couple started a game of timing how long their friend would spend in the bathroom. After thirty minutes of waiting, Marcelo, who was tired, laid his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. At that moment, the security guard nudged Lucio and caught their attention.
"In a very rude way he said that that place (Ofner) was a family place and that 'faggot' attitudes were not allowed in the environment", denounced Lucio. "We asked to call the manager, who at first refused to speak to us, then came to defend the store. When I said we were going to sue, he changed his speech and came to apologize", said Lucio, who together with his boyfriend opened a case against Ofner based on law 10.948, which punishes establishments that discriminate against homosexuals in the State of São Paulo.
The one who caused a stir when arriving at the venue was Tchaka Drag, this time accompanied by fellow drag artist Bill da Pizza. "Hey Ofner, you can prepare my coffee and lower the price of panettone!", warned Tchaka Drag. At this moment, the report from the "CQC" program also arrived. Reporter Rafael Cortez and the two drag queens performed numerous scenes.
Inevitably, many customers at the candy store wanted to know what was going on. The majority were unaware of what had happened and started supporting the protesters. Around 19pm, Tchaka Drag took everyone to the main entrance of the candy store and took part in the collective kiss. Not even reporter Rafael Cortez emerged unscathed from the act.
After the kiss, the group, which already numbered more than 100 people, headed to Avenida Paulista heading to number 700, the place where the first homophobic attack occurred, last November. At the end of the event, Bill da Pizza read the group's manifesto and asked those present to "be politicized", also remembering that candidates Iara Bernardi and Fátima Cleide, both from PT, were not elected. "And guys, Jean Wyllys wasn't elected with the vote of the gay community", said Bill da Pizza.
Dimitri Sales, from São Paulo's LGBT Public Policy Coordination, said he was happy with the demonstration and that the act "is good for the movement". "We have reached an irreversible moment, it is now or never to fight for our rights", he said.
See photos of the demonstration in the album below.
