(Brasilia) The Brazilian Public Prosecutor’s Office on Monday accused the Minister of Education, the evangelical pastor Milton Ribeiro, of “homophobia” for having said in 2020 that homosexual adolescents came from “unsuitable families”.
Posted at 7:05 p.m.
“By claiming that homosexual adolescents come from unsuitable families, the accused discriminates against young people because of their sexual orientation,” said Deputy Attorney General Humberto Jacques de Medeiros in a complaint published on the prosecution’s website.
Justice must now decide whether or not to follow up on the proceedings against the minister, in this country where homophobia has been legally considered a form of racism since 2019 and punishable as such.
In an interview with a local newspaper in 2020, Pastor Ribeiro, Minister of Education recently, had mentioned the logical link, according to him, between homosexuality of a teenager and “unsuitable family”.
“There is a lack of attention from the father, there is a lack of attention from the mother. A 12, 13 year old boy who chooses to be gay has never really been with a woman, with a real man, and is going in that direction. These are questions of values and principles, “said the minister at the time.
During the ensuing investigation, the minister told police in 2021 that he did not want to “disrespect anyone” and that “homosexual families are families” like any other.
AFP did not get a comment on Monday from the Ministry of Education.
The 63-year-old minister, theologian, lawyer and pastor of the Presbyterian Church, has been in charge of the Education portfolio since July 2020 under the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, who seized power with the support of powerful evangelical circles.
The Minister of Education also said in September 2020 that young atheists were “existential zombies” and that the lack of values was one of the main causes of the high suicide rate at this age.