(SHOWCASE) Milking it in Brazil!

In an ad for Sao Paulo gay nightclub The Society, a milk delivery man is seduced by the beat.

CURED: Ex-Gay' Brazilian Leader Comes Out, Says 'Ex-Gays' Don't Exist!

John Aravosis at Americablog Gay points us to this interview with Brazilian 'Ex-gay' leader Sergio Viula, "one of the founders of the Movement for the Healthy Sexuality (MOSES), an evangelical NGO which helps people interested in quitting homosexuality," who tells Brazilian site The Flying Teapot Project that he's gay and 'ex-gay' groups are a complete farce: In fact, ex-gays don’t exist – it’s pure self-suggestion. I started going to church and noticed that homosexuals didn’t know how to deal with their ‘difficulties’, due to lack of orientation by their leaders, so I decided to found the Movement for the Healthy Sexuality (MOSES), with João Luiz Santolin and Liane França. That was when I started saying – at very opportune moments – that I was ex-gay.

Today I know that I was deceiving myself. But back then, I thought that every sentiment or attraction was a mere case of ‘temptation’ and that it could be overcome with prayer and dedication to god. In the group, we used to think, basically speaking, that being gay was a sin, which should be confessed and abandoned and, therefore, we would proselytize, counsel, pray, preach, recommend certain books, read the Bible – things that believers usually do, but focusing on homosexuality itself; unfortunately, always demonizing homogenic love.

APPROVED: Brazil's Supreme Appeals Court Says Gays Can Marry!

Brazil's Supreme Appeals Court overturned rulings by two lower courts yesterday and said that two women can be legally married, the AP reports.

AFP adds: In a 4 - 1 vote, the highest federal court ruled that the Constitution "makes it possible for stable civil unions to become marriages".

Indeed "sexual orientation should not serve as a pretext for excluding families from the legal protection that marriage represents", the court said in a statement. Brazilian federal law has not specifically legalised same-sex marriage. And while state courts are not required to follow the same line as the highest court, the Supreme Court ruling should play some role in discouraging Brazil's states from blocking same-sex marriage, legal experts say.

Brazil's Supreme Court approved civil unions in May.

SIGN: City Deploys Mimes to Tame Traffic!

In Venezuela’s capital, motorcyclists have been known to drive down sidewalks, and cars frequently speed through red lights. So the mayor is dealing with the problem by deploying … mimes. About 120 of them hit the streets last week in an attempt to shame drivers and pedestrians alike into behaving.

“Some people get angry when we reprimand them,” one mime told the AP as she put her hands forward to signify “stop,” then pointed to a red light as a motorcyclist approached. The mimes wear brightly colored clown-like outfits and, of course, white gloves. The mayor came up with the idea after a similar plan in Bogota, Colombia, proved to be a success. But Caracas’ streets, where it’s not uncommon to see people driving in reverse or the wrong way through oncoming traffic, may be even more dangerous. “Many times, the mimes can achieve what traffic police cannot achieve using warning and sanctions in their efforts to maintain control,” says the president of a cultural organization. “Mimes, on the contrary, often achieve the same objective by employing artistic and peaceful actions.”

BEEFCAKE: The BOY of SUMMER!

Model | Bernardo Velasco @ 40 Graus
Images | João P.Teles for Summer Shop | 
Via VGL

NOT QUEER: Sao Paulo OKs Pride Day—for Heterosexuals!

We're here, not queer, get used to it? Sao Paolo's city council has just passed legislation designating an official Heterosexual Pride Day to be held on the third Sunday of each December, the AP reports. Mayor Gilberto Kassab must sign the bill before it goes into effect, however, and he hasn't said if he will. The bill's author, Carlos Apolinario, insists it's "not anti-gay, but a protest against the privileges the gay community enjoys." 

Apolinario complained, for example, that the city's massive gay pride parade is allowed to march down Paulista Avenue—a major thoroughfare—while the March for Jesus is not. "I have no trouble coexisting with gays as long as their behavior is normal," Apolinario said. But the Brazilian LGBT Association thinks the legislation will provoke homophobic violence. "It belittles the just cause of the LGBT community," the group said in a statement. "Unlike homosexuals, heterosexuals are not discriminated against simply for being heterosexuals."

ORDERED: Colombia court demands same-sex Marriage by 2013!

Gay Colombians have two years to wait for gay marriage or another similar type of union, after their Constitutional Court ruled that marriage equality should exist.

The court decided on July 26 to give the legislature until June 20, 2013 to create an equivalent to same-sex couples who want to get married. If no decision is made by then, gay couples can go to any notary public or judge to formalize their union, reports the Constitutional Court of Colombia in a release written in Spanish. 

HOT: Brazil pride brings out hundreds of thousands!

Hundreds of thousands of people dancing and wearing costumes packed the streets of South America’s biggest city to celebrate gay pride and call for an end to homophobia. Gays, lesbians and their supporters in Sao Paulo, Brazil, participated in the city’s 15th annual gay pride parade on skyscraper-lined Avenida Paulista. Many danced to the beat of loud music blasting from several sound trucks.

Organizers hoped the final count would total more than 3 million join in the parade, which they say is one of the biggest in the world.

Police reported a few arrests for drug possession but say no major incidents occurred.

Why Brazil's response to AIDS worked?

As we mark the 30th anniversary of the CDC's official reporting of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, it's surprising to see which nation has fared the best in response. It's not the United States; it's not China, India, or even Russia ... It's our good friend to the south, Brazil.


Eduardo J. Gómez first began to learn about Brazil's success as a doctoral student investigating the impact of AIDS on politics and society in the developing world. Surprised by Brazil's early response to the epidemic, especially when compared to other nations, I tossed my laptop into a backpack and set out for Brazil.

After several trips to cities throughout the country, interviewing AIDS patients, health officials, and activists, it gradually became clear that the government was indeed fully committed to eradicating AIDS, in turn proving to the world that it had the technical capacity and political commitment needed to do so.

As evidence of Brazil's success, consider the following. Aggressive national prevention campaigns for high-risk groups have contributed to a sharp decline of HIV/AIDS cases in Brazil. Because of the creation of national prevention programs targeting gay men and women, in 2002 and 2007, respectively, Brazil has seen a dramatic decline in HIV/AIDS cases among gay men, from 3,376 in 1996 to 647 in 2009, and among women, from 7,419 in 1996 to 2,034 in 2009.

HALTED: Brazilian leader suspends anti-homophobia campaign!

Brazil’s president suspended an anti-homophobia campaign Wednesday, May 25 that had been planned to begin at schools this year because she thought the videos and pamphlets weren’t appropriate for children, according to Bay Windows.


Presidential secretary Gilberto Carvalho met with legislators representing religious groups that have opposed the campaign and emerged to say that Rousseff decided to delay the program.

He did not provide details on what material in the videos and pamphlets was considered inappropriate by Rousseff. The materials were to be distributed to children of varying ages across Brazil.

"The government maintains its clear position against any type of homophobia," Carvalho said. "It’s important that this material, to be productive and to reach its goals, be the result of extensive consultation with society, to not generate this type of controversy."

IMPROVED: Latin America's Advances Towards Gay Rights!

The Brazilian Supreme Court’s recognition of same-sex unions in early May marks the latest victory for gay rights in Latin America. The Court’s ruling grants equal legal rights to same-sex civil unions as those enjoyed by married heterosexuals, including retirement benefits, joint tax declarations, inheritance rights, and child adoption. While the Supreme Court did not go so far as to legalize gay marriage, gay rights groups such as Rio de Janeiro’s Rainbow Group have nevertheless praised the decision as an “historic achievement.” The decision passed 10-0 with one abstention, but the justice who abstained had previously spoken in favor of same-sex unions, according to Cutting Edge.

BUSTED: Police in Grenada arrest man for having gay sex!

Police have arrested a man for having sex with another male on the eastern Caribbean island of Grenada, where a law against homosexual acts remains on the books but is rarely enforced.


A 41-year-old man was charged with having sex with an unidentified 17-year-old man, Grenada’s director of public prosecution, Christopher Nelson, said Wednesday.

The age of sexual consent in Grenada is 16 but while the sex in question was consensual, local law prohibits sodomy under the charge of “unnatural connection.”

Grenada is one of several Caribbean nations that has laws banning sex between men. The penalty in most islands, including Grenada, is up to 10 years in prison, although Barbados and Guyana have life imprisonment, according to a 2010 United Nations report.

Brazil sex education material suspended by President

President Dilma Rousseff has suspended the distribution and production of sex education films for schools in Brazil.


President Rousseff believes the footage is not suitable for youngsters. The education packs contain gay and lesbian video scenes and are supposed to combat homophobia.

However, evangelical church groups and their allies in Congress threatened to block any upcoming legislation unless President Rousseff halted the films.

A government spokesman said President Rousseff had viewed the material personally and decided to suspend its distribution. "She didn't like what she saw," Gilberto Carvalho said.

He said President Rousseff was unhappy with the footage and believed it did not offer an objective picture of homosexuality.

BEEFCAKE:Made in Brazil!

VICTORY: Brazil legalizes same-sex civil unions!

Brazil's Supreme Federal Court recently voted to legalize same-sex unions, even though Brazil has the largest population of Roman Catholics in the world.

Last week's decision doesn't legalize gay marriage — available only in Argentina and Mexico City — but the 10-0 vote — one justice abstained — means homosexual couples will have rights mirroring those of heterosexual couples, including pension, health care and inheritance benefits and, according to some lawyers, the right to adopt children.

Brazil now joins Colombia and Uruguay as countries that recognize civil unions, while governments in Costa Rica and Venezuela recognize a lesser form of same-sex partnership registration, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

Brazilian fans show thunderous support for gay male volleyball star

Yep, those are pink thundersticks, which are now just as popular in Brazil as men’s volleyball, which is very popular. They’re being wielded by fans of Volei Futuro, during a match against Sada Cruzeiro, in honor of one of their players, Michael (Santos), who had been the victim of homophobic slurs from opposing fans in a match the week before, writes Rick Chandler from NBC Sports.


In that match, some fans yelled “Bicha! Bicha!” which translates to “f****t.” Michael revealed his homosexuality following the match and has since become a hero in much of Brazil for his courage and openness.

While I can’t imagine a U.S. sports crowd yelling “f****t” in unison at an athlete (our idiots prefer to sling their bile anonymously on message boards), I also can’t imagine U.S. fans being this supportive of a player who has come out.

CULTURE: Gay Brazilian Athlete Harassed by crowd, but supported by team!

Michael Santos, a middle blocker from Team Vôlei Futuro in Brazil, was subjected to waves of verbal slurs during a recent match. As he served, the crowd chanted kept screaming “Bicha! Bicha! Bicha!” which means “faggot” in English (you can watch the horrific scene here). As a result, Santos publicly came out and acknowledged his sexuality, details the Harvard Law Blog.

But the story doesn’t end there. His team rallied behind him, and a week later the team wore pink warmup shirts to show support for their teammate, and the team’s libero wore a rainbow jersey during the match.

The team’s fans unveiled a huge banner that read,”Vôlei Futuro Against Prejudice.” They even brought thundersticks emblazoned with Michael’s name to turn the stadium pink. It’s hard to imagine a group of American sports fans rallying behind a gay athlete in the way that Vôlei Futur’s fans have . . . but it’s great to see this type of behavior happening in Brazil, nonetheless.