Hate speech against sexual minorities and the limits on the freedom of expression in Brazil

Abstract

Violence towards ethnic, religious, national or sexual minorities takes on diverse forms and it is the role of law to identify and suppress them. Such a role enables the actual enforcement - not only a formal guarantee - of antidiscrimination rights, which are understood as a contemporary prerogative within democratic states. Among the various forms violence can assume, hate speech stands out: a way of assaulting minorities that remains unnoticed, for it does not include physical aggression towards the victim. Although not obvious, hate speech is extremely dangerous on account of its propensity to disseminate exclusion and the social marginalization of minorities, which enables the perpetuation of inequalities and the violation of rights. Among minorities which are harassed by hate speech, sexual minorities stand out, for they have been, in a greater or lesser degree, victims of this type of violence in the whole world. Politicians and, especially, religious leaders, have been completely against the full acknowledgment and observance of LGBT rights. Their statements include, very often, aspects that might have an impact on the individual and the collective psychology of the listener, which contributes to the social exclusion of LGBT people. Hence these statements have influence on the opinion of Brazilian people, which creates further obstacles within the struggle by sexual minorities towards the assertion of LGBT rights in Brazil. The following work is within this context: it is concerned with the limits on the freedom of expression, in Brazil, in contrast with hate speech against sexual minorities and the current perspective of International Law of Human Rights regarding the matter. (AU)