Authorization to censor a gay-themed cartoon at the Rio Biennial

Rio de Janeiro The court of justice of Rio de Janeiro left without effect a decision of justice preventing the municipality of this city to seize books of a comic strip in which appear two men who kiss each other.

In this way, the newspaper announced yesterday Folha, allowed the police to kidnap these copies by claiming that the works depicting the problem of homobaduality infringed on the Status of the Child and Adolescent (ECA) and should therefore be sold under sealed and with A warning legend.

If the Biennale does not comply with the measure, judge Claudio Mello Tavares threatens to suspend his license.

It all began Friday when the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Crivella, an evangelical expander, ordered event organizers – one of Brazil's leading literary festivals – to remove a cartoon from the house Marvel edition containing a kiss between two men to "protect" minors from "badual content". A few hours later, and after the refusal of the organizers, the book was exhausted.

"The municipality has determined that the organizers have picked up this book with juvenile badual content," Crivella said Thursday in a video posted on his Twitter account.

The book, called Avengers, the children's crusade, presents a scene in which two male characters, friends of history, embrace each other.

"Books like these must be wrapped in sealed black plastic. We must protect our children. It is not true that they have quick access to questions that do not reflect their age, "said the Mayor.

Resistance

The Biennial did not give his arm to turn. In a statement defending the book's exhibition, the organizers pointed out that it was "a plural event where everyone is represented".

"It is a festival that gives the floor to all audiences, without distinction, as it should be in a democracy. If a visitor bought the book and did not like it, he has the right to request the change of the product, "said the organization.

Unsatisfied with the decision of the Biennial, the municipality proceeded on Friday with an inspection of the site, where the festival is organized to identify other possible books deemed "inappropriate" for their content.

Official prosecutors have sought to adapt the content presented to the CEC, which in one of its articles stipulates that magazines and publications containing "inappropriate or inappropriate" information must be marketed with a sealed envelope. But the article does not specify what kind of content.

Crivella's decision provoked huge denials and repercussions on social networks, where many did not care about the free publicity provided by the mayor of the book. However, others pointed out that homophobia was recently criminalized in Brazil with sentences of up to five years in prison.

Crivella's request for censorship is in line with the Brazilian authorities' clear attempt to deploy a conservative program, accentuated after the arrival of Jair Bolsonaro. Crivella, who was bishop of the universal Church, called homobaduals "victims of a terrible evil".

The cover of "Folha" against homophobia