RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In the opposite direction of the Bolsonarist wave promoting police candidacies, a group of public security professionals wants to bring the homophobia in these corporations out of the closet. LGBTI+ officers have sought left-wing parties to run in the municipal elections.
The group proposes policies to fight homophobia, to value human rights, and opposes the Jair Bolsonaro government. The candidates are part of RENOSP LGBTI+ (LGBTI+ National Network of Public Security Operations), founded to join police and municipal law enforcement officials who fight against homophobia in their forces.
The network currently has 122 members and supports four candidates for city council: municipal guard Rodrigo Figueiredo (PDT) and Navy sergeant Michel Uchiha (PSB) are seeking election in Rio de Janeiro; federal highway police officer Fabrício Rosa (PSOL) is running for office in Goiânia; and State Police officer Leandro Prior (PT) is leading a collective candidacy in São Paulo.
Anderson Cavichioli, president of RENOSP LGBTI+, points out that the organization has no party alignment, but sees an important symbolism in the election of fellow officers.
“They bear a much more inclusive and republican perspective of security. The significance of these candidacies is undeniable. In addition to occupying a political space that LGBTI people have never held in Brazil, they now include this perspective on diversity in public safety,” he says.
Day-to-day prejudice
UOL spoke with three of the four candidates in the network. They all report a daily routine of prejudice and persecution in their institutions.
This reality led to the creation of the RENOSP LGBTI+. This occurred in 2018, when Leandro Prior was the target of death threats by his colleagues after being photographed kissing a friend in the São Paulo subway.
Municipal guard Rodrigo Figueiredo says that his decision to run was partly based on the fact that he had already suffered this type of retaliation and found no shelter in the Rio City Council.
“I was persecuted within the Municipal Guard, I asked the City Council for help and I had no reply”, he says. “The majority of my problems [related to homophobia] occurred with the top management. With colleagues they were always occasional and were ultimately solved.”
In September, UOL reported that Michel Uchiha is also undergoing an administrative proceeding after having questioned on his social media the cash transfers from Fabrício Queiroz, ex-advisor to Senator Flávio Bolsonaro, to First Lady Michelle Bolsonaro.
Opposition to Bolsonaro
Another guideline that is present in security professionals candidacies who engage in the LGBTI+ movement is the strong opposition to the Bolsonaro government and the policies developed by its allies.
Two of the three candidates -Prior and Fabrício- are on the list of the 579 civil servants targeted in intelligence reports prepared by the Ministry of Justice against supposedly anti-fascist police officers, as disclosed by UOL.
Prior heads the anti-fascist bench -comprised of two friends who also engage in the LGBTI+ movement. He says that opposition to Bolsonarism is the campaign’s central agenda.
“The key issue is to fight against all Bolsonarist agendas or those of this government’s allies in the city of São Paulo,” he summarizes.
Unlike his Bolsonarist colleagues, who are seeking a position in politics, he says that his support comes from outside the corporations, through activism in the LGBTI+ movement and in other human rights related agendas.
Reconciliation between security and human rights
A candidate in Goiânia, Fabrício Rosa emphasizes the need to oppose what he considers a risk of co-optation of public security institutions by Bolsonarism. According to him, the left-wing must be self-critical with its failure to fight for reforms in the police during the PT governments.
“There have always been police and military officers fighting for democratic legality. The National Truth Commission reports that over 6,500 were persecuted during the 1964 dictatorial regime,” he recalls. “As much as it may seem that the police is a monolithic stone, it is not. Even though we are a minority at this moment.”
In terms of specific proposals for public security, they advocate changes in officer training – in the case of the municipalities, focused on municipal guards. Prior says investing in human rights education in law enforcement entities is required.
“I believe that the problem is that our [public security] workers do not see themselves as human rights guarantors and promoters. Our problem is directly linked to these officers’ education: they come out poisoned and filled with vices, ready for war. We need instructors who are not Bolsonarists, flatearthers and do not see Paulo Freire as a communist criminal,” he says.
Source: UOL