Player denounces homophobia in volleyball match and receives support from all over the country

Este artigo também está disponível em:
Português Español

Another unfortunate case of homophobia in Brazilian sport. The new fact happened to the beach volleyball player Anderson Melo (RJ), who was the target of homophobic slurs and threats during the edition Circuito Brasileiro de Vôlei de Praia em Recife (PE), on 14 March.

Aggressive and violent statements such as “target the faggot!”, “does she wear panties or she doesn´t wear them?”, and “in the face of the faggot” were directed at the athlete from Rio de Janeiro during the match against the duo formed by Luiz and Fabiano; The images can be seen in the athlete’s posts.

Anderson, in addition to sharing the evidence of what happened, comments that he suffered psychological abuse because he felt “completely cornered, and did not understand why people were doing that.”

– BKDR –

In a conversaation with Gay Blog BR , the athlete said he received numerous messages from people who were also victims of the same crime, but who preferred not to follow through with the complaints, either because they did not believe in justice or because they feared retaliation. However, Anderson reiterates that even though he was discouraged, he knew that he “needed to report offenses and not allow criminals to hide behind impunity and fear.” In the last few days, several personalities such as Anitta, Sasha Meneghel, Fernanda Gentil and Leila do Vôlei, expressed their support and solidarity for the player on social media.

The athlete recalls that “homophobia is a crime” and wants to encourage LGBTQIA+ people to denounce these facts, more and more. Acts of homophobia and aggression involving athletes and fans in official volleyball matches is not new. Brazilian Volleyball Confederation (CBV), the highest entity of the sport in the country and responsible for the championship, in an official statement, vehemently condemned the episode, called the local authorities of Recife and promised to curb any discriminatory manifestation in its events.

Crimes of LGBTfobia

In June 2019, the Brazilian Supreme Court ruled in favor of criminalizing LGBTphobia, recognizing it as a crime of racism until the National Congress drafts specific legislation on the subject. From this decision, anyone who offends or discriminates against gays, lesbians, bisexuals or transgender people is subject to punishment of one to three years in prison, provided for in Law No. 7,716/89. LGBTphobia is a non-bailable and imprescriptible crime.

É oficial: STF decidiu por 8 votos a 3 que homofobia é crime