ABOVE: São Paulo Pride. (Photo courtesy of Renato Viterbo)
Upwards of four million people attended São Paulo’s annual Pride parade June 19.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation Brazil, Aliança Nacional LGBTI (National LGBTI Alliance) and Associaçao Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals) are among the myriad groups that participated.
Openly gay Brazilian Sen. Fabiano Contarato is among the elected officials who marched.
The theme of this year’s parade was “Vote with Pride.”
The first round of Brazil’s presidential election will take place on Oct. 2.
Polls indicate President Jair Bolsonaro is trailing former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Bolsonaro has already sought to discredit the country’s electoral system, even though a group of more than 20 would-be hackers who gathered in the Brazilian capital of Brasília last month failed to infiltrate it.
Associaçao Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais President Keila Simpson and other activists with whom the Washington Blade spoke while in Brazil in March sharply criticized Bolsonaro over his rhetoric against LGBTQ and intersex Brazilians.
A São Paulo HIV/AIDS service provider said Bolsonaro feels “AIDS is connected to faggots.” Other sources noted Bolsonaro has also suggested the COVID-19 vaccine causes AIDS.
