MST has a permanent campaign to end LGBTphobia in the countryside

Faced with the need to build training initiatives and combat LGBTI+phobia, with intersectoral strategic actions in the different organizational spaces of the MST, the MST continues its Permanent Campaign Against LGBTI+phobia in the Countryside. For the MST’s LGBT Sem Terra Collective, the fight against LGBTI+phobia, in the fight against all forms of violence, is an important component of the political project and indispensable for the construction of Popular Agrarian Reform in Brazil.

“The idea is that based on each reality, we can build organizational instruments and tools, therefore collective, that help us monitor, welcome and combat all types of violence, be it psychological, property, physical, among others”, he states. Wesley Lima, from the LGBT collective Sem Terra.

The campaign is permanent, running for an indefinite period of time and is also being carried out by Via Campesina Brasil and the peasant movements that make up the organization, such as the MST. The intention is to carry out permanent work with the social base, Sem Terra militancy and in the organizational bodies of the MST, to confront the various types of violence and structure collective actions in the search for relations and territories of the Popular Agrarian Reform emancipated and free from any type of violence against anyone.

LGBTI+phobia has been advancing in Brazil. In 2021 alone, at least 316 violent deaths of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestites, transsexuals and intersex people (LGBTI+) were recorded. This number represents an increase of 33.3% compared to the previous year, when 237 deaths occurred. The data is contained in the Dossier of Deaths and Violence against LGBTI+ in Brazil. Among the crimes that occurred, 262 were homicides (which corresponds to 82.91% of cases), 26 were suicides (8.23%), 23 were robberies (7.28%) and five deaths from other causes (1.58%). %).

The campaign includes a set of training materials, which are sent to the MST base in the states, such as a booklet and poster with guidelines, as well as promotional materials on the Movement’s website and social media. The campaign also includes a set of other actions such as online conferences, debates, training courses and coordination with other popular movements and organizations, and partners to build a network to report, support and welcome people who have suffered some type of violence. , including LGBTI+phobia.

By Ezatamentchy