Bolsonaro Calls for Bill to Ban Gender Ideology in Brazilian Elementary Schools

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – President Jair Bolsonaro said on Tuesday, September 3rd, that he directed the Ministry of Education to draft a bill to prohibit the inclusion of gender issues in elementary schools.

According to Bolsonaro, the measure follows an opinion by the Federal Solicitor General (AGU), that the federal government has jurisdiction to legislate on the issue. The announcement was made through social networks.

“The AGU decides who is responsible for legislating on gender ideology, a matter under federal jurisdiction. I directed the Ministry of Education (MEC), aiming at the principle of the integral protection of children, provided for in the Constitution, to prepare a bill that prohibits gender ideology in elementary education”, Bolsonaro wrote.

The expression “gender ideology” is not recognized in the academic world and is usually used by conservative groups opposed to discussions of sexual diversity and gender identity.

Bolsonaro makes frequent use of the concept to criticize leftist governments and educational policies that, in his view, would be deviating from the traditional Christian conception of the family, which is composed of a man and a woman.

Academically recognized gender theory establishes that gender and sexual orientation are social constructs, not just biological determinations. For right-wing segments, “gender ideology” is an attack on the traditional concept of the family.

The term “gender ideology” was created by the Roman Catholic Church and first cited in 1998 in a note from the Episcopal Conference of Peru.

It was eventually adopted by radical right-wing groups. Asked to comment on the issue, the Solicitor General and the Ministry of Education have not responded so far.

When questioned, AGU said that its opinion on the question occurred in the context of a lawsuit before the Federal Supreme Court that questions a municipal law of Londrina, in Paraná, which prohibits the application of the concept of gender in the local educational system.

The request for the Court to analyze the case was made by the National Confederation of Workers in Education and by the National Association of Jurists for LGBT Human Rights, arguing that the federal government has exclusive jurisdiction to legislate on education.