A Brazilian presidential hopeful got here out as homosexual this week in a rustic dominated by a self-described “proud homophobe.”
Eduardo Leite, the governor of the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul, made the announcement throughout a TV interview Thursday with Globo TV.
“I’m homosexual – and I’m a governor who’s homosexual reasonably than a homosexual governor. Simply as Obama in the USA wasn’t a black president, however a president who was black. And I’m pleased with this,” mentioned Leite, 36, a member of the center-right Brazilian Social Democratic Celebration (PSDB).
The announcement was handled with an enormous outpouring of assist within the South American nation, each from politicians and LGBT activists.
“You’ve made historical past,” mentioned Toni Reis, an LGBT activist, in a Fb posting.
Leite plans to problem Brazil’s right-wing chief Jair Bolsonaro, who as soon as instructed an interviewer in 2013 that “Brazilian society doesn’t like homosexuals.”
Final month, Bolsonaro mocked Leite when he mentioned that the governor hid federal assets in his bottom. Leite instructed Globo TV that he was contemplating submitting a prison criticism in opposition to the president due to the comment.
Presidential elections are scheduled to happen subsequent 12 months in Brazil.
