sapphi_snake said:
Sao Paulo council calls for Heterosexual Pride Day
SAO PAULO (AP) -- The city council of South America's biggest city has adopted legislation calling for a Heterosexual Pride Day to be celebrated on the third Sunday of each December.
Sao Paulo Mayor Gilberto Kassab must sign the legislation for it to become law and has said only that he is studying it. His office declined Wednesday to say whether he supports the proposal.
The legislation's author, Carlos Apolinario, said the idea for a Heterosexual Pride Day is "not anti-gay but a protest against the privileges the gay community enjoys."
As an example, he mentioned how Sao Paulo's huge gay pride day parade is held every year on Paulista Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares in this city of 20 million people, while the March for Jesus organized by evangelical groups is not allowed on the same avenue.
"I respect gays and I am against any kind of aggression made against them," Apolinario said. "I have no trouble coexisting with gays as long as their behavior is normal."
The Brazilian Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Association criticized the legislation, saying it could provoke homophobic violence.
"How many LGBTs will be attacked because of the message that only heterosexuality makes someone a moral person and a good citizen," the association said in a statement.
"The celebration of heterosexual pride is inappropriate because it belittles the just cause of the LGBT community," the statement added. "Unlike homosexuals, heterosexuals are not discriminated against simply for being heterosexuals."
In a recent report, the gay rights group Grupo Gay da Bahia said 260 gays were murdered last year in Brazil, up 113 percent from five years earlier.
Source: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_BRAZIL_HETEROSEXUAL_PRIDE_DAY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-08-03-17-15-16
Well, this is the most idiotic thing I've read today. Ah, backwards South American countries... thank you for making Romania look good!
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It's only fair since heterosexuals have long been a minority in São Paulo :P
Nah, but seriously, asking "How many LGBTs will be attacked because of the message that only heterosexuality makes someone a moral person and a good citizen?" is only relevant if that's really the message, which it's not supposed to be.
I don't they're really gonna get to have this parade (not in Paulista, that is), and I suspect that might not even be their objective. It's clear their protest is not against equality between the orientations but, on the contrary, how in defending minorities we can end up giving them privileges which may actually be unfair to the majority. Sure they're trying to remedy a situation, but there can be such a thing as going too far and overly-victimizing the minorities.
Now that's all speculation and even if it does have anything to do with that it's obviously arguable wether it's got a point or not in this specific case. And by specific I mean specific. Like, this scenario, in this city, of which I myself have little knowlodge but I'm willing to bet you have even less. So yeah, way to oversimplify. I'm not offended, as i really don't put much stock on nationality, but your own prejudice is funny when you attack the supposed prejudice of others. I mean, just remember it's not even like most brazilians (or south americans for that matter) would agree with this for all you know and that the backwards country is the one which has the single biggest gay/lesbo/etc parade in the world :P
Oh, and speaking of bets, I'd be willing to bet you, according to the things you yourself say about your country (or at least your town), we actually accept more and discriminate less here. I'd bet in practice we're more open. And I'm not just talking about sexual orientations but religions and etc too. Do you realize over Four Million People participated in this year's parade? How's that for a backwards country?
Anyway, I realise I may sound irritated, but I'm not. It's just that this is kinda stupid and quite overblown. I mean, 260 gays were murdered last year in Brazil? Oh noes! Never mind over fourty seven hundred PEOPLE were murdered last year just in Rio de Janeiro, and that according to this (http://www.mundomais.com.br/exibemateria2.php?idmateria=334) about 14,3% of people in Rio de Janeiro are self-reported homo- or bi-sexual. If you account for the fact men are murdered more, and that there are a lot more men reporting as non-hetero than women, it gets even more ridiculous. The number of gays killed just in Rio de Janeiro should be way over (at least) eight hundred. Seems that either this guy is full of shit or heteros are getting the short end of the stick. Maybe a Straight Pride Parade is in order after all :)
