Jean Wyllys, Brazilian Member of Parliament, speaks at the LGBTQ International Leaders Conference in 2017.
Brazil’s general election to elect the President, National Congress, State Governors, and State Legislative Assemblies will occur on October 7th of 2018. If a second round of voting is needed, it will occur on October 28th. The second round is triggered if no candidate emerges with a clear majority. This year’s elections are important as this is the first election since the impeachment and removal of Dilma Rousseff from the presidency, and there is a power vacuum to fill. Brazil has made strides in the area of LGBTQ equality in recent years, with same-sex marriage legalized in 2013.
With equality advancing and the government being in a transitional moment, many LGBTQ Brazilians are running for office. In fact, 54 are listed here by the LGBTI National Alliance. There could be even more, as this list derives from a survey performed by the Alliance. There are candidates running for both the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate at the federal level, as well as State legislatures. More candidates originate from the Southeast and Southern parts of the country, but there are candidates in the Northeast and interior parts of the country as well. All stripes of the LGBTQ community are represented, with trans women, gay men, lesbians, and bisexual candidates running this year.
We at the LGBTQ Victory Institute are excited by this development and by the prospect of electing more LGBTQ leaders into office in Brazil, where LGBTQ Brazilians will have a voice in the room where decisions are made. Brazil, one of the leaders in LGBTQ equality in the region, is setting the stage for its neighbors to do the same.
