Brazil’s far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has allegedly stated his country mustn’t become a ‘gay tourism paradise’.
Bolsonaro, a self-declared homophobe, made the comments during a breakfast meeting with the press, according to Brazilian magazine Exame.
He is quoted saying: "If you want to come here and have sex with a woman, go for your life, but we can’t let this place become known as a gay tourism paradise.
"Brazil can’t be a country of the gay world, of gay tourism. We have families."
The comments sparked an immediate reaction from LGBT campaigners. "This is not a head of state – this is a national disgrace," said David Miranda, a leftist congressman and LGBT activist. "He is staining the image of our country in every imaginable way."
Renan Quinalha, a Sao Paulo-based lawyer and LGBT activist, added: "It is a disastrous declaration, both from the human rights point of view and with regards to Brazil’s international image."
He said Bolsonaro’s comments ‘give a green light to already alarming levels of violence against the LGBT community’.
Bolsonaro’s remarks are being seen as a blow to Brazil’s attempts to build an international reputation as a welcoming destination for gay tourists.
