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Lula sworn in as Brazil’s president

Anti-LGBTQ Jair Bolsonaro did not attend inauguration

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Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva after his inauguration in Brasília, Brazil, on Jan. 1, 2023. (Photo courtesy of Lula's Twitter page)

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on Sunday took office in his country’s capital of Brasília.

Hundreds of thousands of Da Silva’s supporters traveled to Brasília for his inauguration. U.S. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland is among the digitaries who attended.

“Today we begin a new chapter in Brazil’s history,” tweeted Da Silva after his inauguration.

Da Silva, a member of the leftist Worker’s Party, was Brazil’s president from 2003-2010.

Da Silva in 2017 received a 9 1/2 year prison sentence after his conviction on money laundering and corruption charges that stemmed from Operation Car Wash. The Brazilian Supreme Court in November 2019 ordered Da Silva’s release.

His precedessor, Jair Bolsonaro, a member of the right-wing Liberal Party who represented Rio de Janeiro in the Brazilian Congress for nearly three decades, took office in 2018.

The former Brazilian Army captain faced sharp criticism because of his rhetoric against LGBTQ and intersex Brazilians and other groups. Bolsonaro’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic also sparked outrage.

Da Silva, who publicly supported LGBTQ and intersex rights during his campaign, last October defeated Bolsonaro in the second round of the country’s presidential election.

Bolsonaro sought to discredit Brazil’s electoral system. The now former president, who has yet to publicly acknowledge his loss, on Dec. 30 gave an emotional speech to his supporters before he flew to Florida. 

Bolsonaro did not attend Da Silva’s inauguration.

“In a sense it’s good,” one source in Brazil told the Washington Blade on Dec. 31. “[Bolsonaro]’s moving out of the way.”

Two transgender congresswoman take office

Two transgender congresswomen — Erika Hilton and Duda Salabert —took office on Monday. Rio Grande do Sul Gov. Eduardo Leite, a member of the centrist Brazilian Social Democracy Party who is the country’s first openly gay state governor, also began his second term in office.

Leite last October defeated Onyx Lorenzoni, a member of the right-wing Liberal Party who is Bolsonaro’s former chief-of-staff.

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Argentina

Argentine president restricts transgender minors access to hormone treatments, surgeries

Advocacy groups say they could challenge Javier Milei’s decree in court

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Argentine President Javier Milei (Screen capture via YouTube)

Argentine President Javier Milei on Feb. 5 issued a decree that restricts minors’ access to gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments.

Human rights organizations and LGBTQ groups have condemned the edict that modifies Argentina’s landmark Gender Identity Law.

The International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association for Latin America and the Caribbean (ILGALAC) and ILGA World have condemned the decree, noting it “imposes severe restrictions on the right to gender identity of trans and non-binary people, particularly young people.” They further state the restriction “ignores scientific evidence and the recommendations of international bodies, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR).”

The Argentine Federation of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans (FALGBT), meanwhile, has announced it will go to court to stop the modification of the Gender Identity Law and, if necessary, will turn to international organizations. Legal experts have argued the decree is illegal and unconstitutional, and Argentina’s Supreme Court should intervene.

FALGBT President María Rachid, told the Washington Blade that “from the Argentine LGBT Federation we are filing a declaration of unconstitutionality for this DNU (the Spanish acronym for Necessary and Urgent Decree), because we consider that the president is begging for legislative powers that do not correspond to him. That law was approved by a wide majority in both chambers, where specialists of medicine, of law went to expose concrete research on these issues.”

“On the other hand, we are also going to file injunctions, both collective and individual, to defend the rights of trans children and adolescents, mainly,” said Rachid. “It is not true what he (Milei) says to justify this absolute intrusion to legislative powers, saying that 5-year-old children are mutilated. This is not true. Genital reassignment operations are performed after the age of 18, even by medical indication.”

This decree is in addition to other measures of Milei’s government that affect the LGBTQ community, such as the prohibition of gender-affirming treatments and surgeries for minors and limits on housing transgender women in female prisons.These actions have generated controversy and concern among human rights advocates and international organizations.

“President Javier Milei, since he took office, has been carrying out a series of measures that directly affect the vast majority of formal and informal workers in Argentina, and the LGBTIQNB population is no exception,” said Ornella Infante, a trans woman who is a national leader of the leftist Evita Movement. “In addition to the hate speeches that multiply violence; it is a class hatred to sectors with organizational and mobilization capacity such as women, unions, social movements, and sexual diversity.”

“It is exposed with the dismissals of LGBT people from national agencies, the definition of gender policies, the closure of INADI, a state agency that worked to eradicate discrimination in the country,” added Infante. “All of this directly affects vulnerable populations and painfully shows that it is part of their government’s ideals to end human rights policies.”

ILGA World has urged the international community, human rights organizations and democratic institutions to speak out against these measures and to demand the repeal of the decree, calling it “an abuse of executive power and a blow to democratic institutionality.”

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Argentina

Millions march against Javier Milei in Argentina

Protests took place after president’s comments at World Economic Forum

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LGBTQ activists march against Argentine President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Feb. 1, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Esteban Paulón)

Millions of people in Buenos Aires and across Argentina participated in marches against President Javier Milei in response to his controversial comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The Buenos Aires march, led by LGBTQ, women’s and human rights organizations in Argentina, shaped up to be one of the largest demonstrations against Milei since he became president in December 2023. The mobilization is a direct response to Milei’s disparaging comments about feminism, LGBTQ rights, and other progressive movements.

Milei called “wokism” and “gender ideology” harmful during his Jan. 23 speech at the World Economic Forum, even comparing them to pedophilia. These statements sparked outrage across Argentina with protesters demanding the defense of human rights and equality.

María Rachid, president of the Argentine LGBT+ Federation, told the Washington Blade on Sunday “the march was massive, a strong message to President Milei putting a limit to hatred, discrimination and violence.”

“Argentine society built the values of respect for diversity, equality, and true freedom and yesterday it came out to defend them with massive demonstrations throughout the country and in many cities around the world,” said Rachid. “We are proud of what we were able to build because although they want to destroy it, it is already part of the heart of Argentine society.”

The Buenos Aires march began at the National Congress and ended at the Casa Rosada, the seat of the country’s presidency. Thousands of demonstrators, many with rainbow flags and banners that read “rights are not negotiable,” expressed their strong rejection of Milei’s policies.

Gay Congressman Esteban Paulón highlighted to the Blade “the call for the march was impressive.” 

“I think it exceeded any forecast, not only because of the massiveness in the City of Buenos Aires, where it is estimated more than a million people, but also because of the massiveness in the 150 cities in which it was held throughout the country,” he said. “The truth is that it was a very, very big march in Rosario, in Córdoba, in Santa Fe, in Mar del Plata, in Bariloche, in the north, in Salta.” 

“There was no expectation that it would be so, so massive, beyond the one in Buenos Aires, which had had an important call, an important visibility, which had added several actors,” added Paulón.

From left: Argentine Congressman Esteban Paulón and Argentine LGBT+ Federation President María Rachid march against Argentine President Javier Milei in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Feb. 1, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Esteban Paulón)

Sofía Díaz, a transgender woman who worked as a civil servant before Milei’s administration fired her, marched in Corrientes, a city in Chaco province.

“After President Milei’s speeches in Davos, the next day we started texting each other on WhatsApp,” she said, referring to public employees at the national level. “We were really afraid of what he had said.” 

Activists around the world expressed solidarity with their Argentine counterparts.

Marches took place in cities around the world — including in Santiago, Chile; Montevideo, Uruguay; Rio de Janeiro; São Paulo; Mexico City; London; Madrid; Amsterdam; Berlin; Geneva; Paris; New York; Lisbon, Portugal; and the Spanish cities of Barcelona and Granada.

The Movement for Homosexual Integration and Liberation, a Chilean LGBTQ rights group, on Feb. 1 organized a march to the Argentine Embassy. Activists delivered a letter that expressed solidarity with the LGBTQ community and repudiated Milei’s policies against it.

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Argentina

Gay Argentine congressman files criminal complaint against Javier Milei

President made anti-LGBTQ comments during World Economic Forum speech

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Argentine President Javier Milei (Screen capture via YouTube)

Argentine President Javier Milei is facing a new controversy after he made a series of homophobic and transphobic comments at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

Congressman Esteban Paulón, a long-time LGBTQ rights activist, in a criminal complaint he filed argues the president used discourse that promotes negative stereotypes, and encourages violence against the LGBTQ community.

Milei in his Jan. 23 speech made statements that linked the LGBTQ community to pedophilia, specifically citing the case of a gay couple in Georgia sentenced to life in prison last year after they pleaded guilty to sexually abusing their two adopted children. Milei also claimed 5-year-old children undergo gender-affirming surgeries, an argument that experts have categorically denied.

These statements sparked national and international outrage.

“Milei radicalizes hate speech based on lies and fabricated truths,” said Paulón in an exclusive interview with the Washington Blade. “He raises harmful stereotypes against the LGBTQ+ community, which generates fear and anguish in our communities. We have filed a criminal complaint, understanding that his statements constitute several crimes aggravated by his presidential investiture.”

Paulón also highlighted the societal impact of Milei’s words, noting many LGBTQ families live in fear of having their rights revoked.

“There are fathers and mothers afraid of being denounced for allowing their children to express their gender identity. LGBTQ+ couples fear that their children will be taken away from them,” said Paulón. “This type of discourse activates ultra-conservative groups that politically support Milei, but do not reflect the feelings of the majority of Argentine society.”

LGBTQ activists and human rights groups in Argentina have organized a march in Buenos Aires, the country’s capital, that is scheduled to take place on Feb. 1. The event’s slogan, “for a country without hate,” seeks to highlight their rejection of Milei’s statements and a reaffirmation of their commitment to defend LGBTQ rights.

Milei, for his part, denied the accusations in a recent interview, pointing out they are part of a campaign that so-called elites have orchestrated.

“I never compared homosexuals with pedophiles, but certain sectors mount these campaigns to generate indignation,” he said.

Paulón stressed his complaint also seeks to have a broader impact on Argentine society.

“Beyond the judicial outcome, we want to open a space for reflection on the importance of not validating hate speech,” he said. “These attacks not only affect a community, but also damage social cohesion and mutual respect.”

Milei has rolled back several LGBTQ rights initiatives since he took office in December 2023.

One of his administration’s first acts was to close the Women, Gender and Diversity Ministry and the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism, which was known by the acronym INADI. Milei has also dismissed transgender people from public sector jobs.

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