2023-06-11 02:39:21
On June 28, 1969, transvestites, transsexuals, gays, lesbians and bisexuals uttered a cry of “enough” that spread throughout the world and still resonates today, when they transformed the Stonewall Bar in New York (USA). , in the scene of a protest against repression and lack of rights.
By: LGBT National Secretariat, PSTU Brazil
The Stonewall Rebellion became a milestone in the revolt against the historical, hypocritical and moralistic oppression that seeks to condemn us to darkness or, at best, to existence in restricted spaces, the so-called “ghettos”.
Since then, at the cost of intense and constant struggles, a lot has changed, but LGBTIphobia still persecutes and punishes millions.
Still far from the freedom, equality and rights we need
For decades, Brazil has been the country that kills the most LGBTI people. The fact is that we go through life as if we had a dot permanently imprinted on our bodies, facing emotional, psychological and physical violence.
This is intensified among working-class LGBTI people, who are more vulnerable in a society that exploits us, segregates us in the peripheries and restricts our access to public services, where we are subjected to threats and perversities.
The Stonewall Revolt was not “only” for freedom and respect within the framework of capitalist society. Any conquest is important, but in the “democracy of the rich”, all of them will be partial and threatened. Therefore, it is necessary to exploit “the closets” of oppression and capitalism to have full rights, justice and freedom.
Boundless oppression fueled by crisis
The extreme right is the most nefarious expression of capitalist barbarism. Here, Bolsonaro waged an ideological battle against LGBTI+. He did not allocate funds to combat LGTBIphobia; criminalized the debate on Sex Education in schools; cut SUS funds [Sistema Único de Salud] and the subsidy for HIV treatment.
But the LGBTI responded at the same level, occupying the streets in the “Fuera Bolsonaro” acts with rainbow flags. Not in vain Bolsonaro’s electoral defeat was like a breath of fresh air in our lives.
However, the extreme right was not defeated and continues to operate in organized groups. For this reason, confronting it, organizing self-defense and blocking any threat to democratic freedoms are fundamental tasks. Something that can only be done regardless of class.
Lula-Alckmin-Centrão: obstacles in the fight against LGBTIphobia
Lula’s Broad Front is a sharpened reissue of the old alliances of previous governments, in which, in the name of “governance,” agreements were reached with conservatives and reactionaries. Dilma raffled off our rights, through the veto of the “anti-homophobia kit” in schools and the “cajoneo” of PLC 122, which would criminalize homophobia.
The result could not have been otherwise. The Bahia Gay Group survey shows that the annual average of LGBTI murders almost tripled between Lula’s first term (163) and the end of Dilma’s term (445).
Today, even with the differences in relation to Bolsonaro, believing that the government will be an effective ally in the fight against oppression is pure illusion. Declarations of good intentions, specific Ministries and Councils will not bring real changes, since there is a submission to the interests of bankers, businessmen, agricultural sectors.
And Lula, in particular, has already given signs that LGBTIphobia is not at the center of his concerns. During the campaign and even during his inauguration, he simply made us invisible. In Bahia, he posed with his arms around pastor and congressman Isidório, from Avante, an enemy of LGBTI, who considers himself “ex-gay” and is a defender of the “gay cure”. His main project in Congress was the creation of “Hetero Day.”
Lula can only offer us crumbs
This year, the slogan of the LGBTI March in São Paulo is a demand of Lula: “We want social policies for LGBT+, in their entirety and not in half!” .
A fair claim, but one that tends to fall into a vacuum, despite the recognized differences between this government and that of Bolsonaro, and even with the appointment of transgender activist Symmy Larrat to the LGBTQIA+ National Secretariat of the Ministry of Human Rights, which By the way, you have the smallest federal budget.
It is clear that we will not have the atrocities of Bolsonaro. But what we will have ahead of us is the same thing that happened with the indigenous peoples with the Temporary Framework and with the defenders of the environment, with the emptying of the Ministry of it. All justified by the “unity of the progressive forces” against the ultra-right, but which in reality masks the submission to the bourgeoisie and capital.
To combat violence, it is necessary to remove the criminalization of LGBTIphobia from paper, repeal labor and pension reforms, guarantee jobs with rights and specific, quality public services for our community.
It is necessary to “rescue the spirit of Stonewall”
At the LGBTI+ Pride celebrations we will raise our flags with pride, but also aware that the fight against prejudice and discrimination has a side: that of the most oppressed and exploited.
Unfortunately, this tradition was abandoned by the Marches, which gave in to the “domestication” imposed by their funders, who present themselves as “allies”, but want to profit from the “pink market”.
The PSTU will participate in the events with total independence from the governments, as will happen in São Paulo with the Bloco de Esquerda, within which we will proudly raise the rainbow flags together with those brandished by the union, popular, black and black movements, and working-class women.
Article published in www.pstu.org.br
Translation: Natalia Estrada.
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