Salvador da Bahia is perhaps best known to tourists as the most “African” city in Brazil. The administrative center of Bahia State, the third-largest city in Brazil and the country’s first capital (until 1764), Salvador displays the profound and abiding influence of the African slaves who were brought to its shores for over 300 years. Travelers from across the world and Brazil flock to Salvador to hear musicians like Caetano Veloso, Olodum, and Ilê Aiyê, to learn its martial arts tradition of capoeira, to witness the Yoruba-derived rites of Candomblé, and to participate in one of Brazil’s three major Carnival celebrations.
But Salvador also is home to one of the nation’s most dynamic and the oldest GLBT and human rights groups, Grupo Gay da Bahia (GGB). Established in 1980 by activist and scholar Dr. Luiz R. B. Mott, GGB has been a pioneer advancing human rights and passing anti-discrimination laws, both inside and outside Bahia. It has also been active in battling HIV/AIDS transmission in Brazil and promoting public acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people. One area in which GGB has been especially vigilant is anti-gay violence, an ongoing problem in Brazil, especially in the socially conservative northeast region. (For more information on GGB, visit their Website at www.ggb.org.br. They offer basic information in English.)
Last year (July 2003) I had an informal on-line discussion with Marcelo Cerqueira, the president of GGB. We spoke about his personal activism; GGB’s role in Salvador and its efforts to advance gay rights and human rights; the role of black culture among Bahia’s homosexuals; and the relationship between Brazilian and American gay culture. Since then, Marcelo has continued his and GGB’s multifaceted efforts to enhance and advance the rights of GLBT people.
John Keene: Hi, Marcelo. Why don’t you start by telling me something about yourself.
Marcelo Cerqueira: I’m 34 years old. I was born in Salvador and teach history. After I entered college, I began to get involved with student activism and dedicated myself to GGB. For more than ten years, I’ve been an activist in the movement for the defense of homosexual and human rights in Brazil. I also am the communications secretary for the Brazilian Association of Gays, Lesbians and Transsexuals.
JK: What do you do at Grupo Gay da Bahia (GGB)?
MC: I’m currently dedicating all my time to the homosexual movement in Brazil, and at the same time, I’m writing for websites and newspapers.
JK: Not long ago, in early 2003, you ran for public office. What led to your candidacy, and what were your priorities for the GLBT community and for Bahia?
MC: I was a candidate to be a state deputy for the Green Party of Brazil, and our campaign goal was to guarantee representation for homosexuals in the country’s decision-making centers. GGB has always been an enthusiastic proponent of including homosexuals in politics. That’s because we’re certain that homophobia in the various decision-making centers has been greatly enhanced by a rise in organized action by evangelical groups. I wasn’t elected, but I got 5,445 votes from those who shared my consciousness and desired a change. [Marcelo is again a candidate this year for a state office on the Green Party ticket and has been involved in an effort, “Desire and Power” (“Desejo e Poder”), to elect gay candidates in the major cities of northeastern Brazil.]
JK: Returning to GGB, how does the organization serve the local gay communities?
MC: GGB offers space for the promotion of health, of rights and homosexual citizenship. We offer health services, as well as specific items like condoms and lubricants, and we serve as an advocate for those who experience prejudice and need rapid action. But our work is especially aimed at forming a favorable opinion in [Brazilian] society on homosexual questions. GGB offers the opportunity for dialogue, but above all we assume leadership in a society that does not know how to live with differences.
JK: How does GGB relate to the other Brazilian GLBT and human rights groups?
MC: GGB has the distinction of being the oldest functioning group of its kind in Brazil. It has existed for more than 22 years, and we are a national clearinghouse in all kinds of areas, such as the promotion of rights, health, and homosexual citizenship.
JK: Are there GLBT groups in the other large Bahian cities? Are there any in the smaller towns in the interior?
MC: In addition to a community mobilization project and the creation of new leaders, we belong to Project Somos (“We Are”), a national and international organization that combats the spread of hiv/aids. In the various Bahian municipalities we are establishing gay groups and our goal is to launch these kinds of organizations in all the cities of Bahia.
JK: What other cultural activities are you participating in?
MC: The major event that we’ve achieved is the Bahian gay pride parade. It’s a really exciting event for GGB and for the city of Salvador. [Bahia’s third annual gay pride parade and celebration, which took place in June 2004, drew its largest crowd ever at over 80,000 attendees.]
JK: How do you see GLBT life in Bahia today?
MC: Here in Bahia it’s very diverse. Young people here are sexually active very early, and that’s good because it facilitates the process of coming out as gay. Also, many men here are bisexuals, so it’s very difficult to be gay and have a fixed relationship, because many men are available for quick affairs and don’t want any commitment.
JK: On GGB’s website, I saw that the gay pride parade in Salvador has a strong Afro-Brazilian cultural aspect. The parade even begins with a procession of Bahian women in traditional dress. How did that come to pass? What is the importance of Afro-Brazilian heritage for gay Bahians?
MC: Salvador is the major black city outside of Africa. As a result, there’s no need to state that black culture here is very strong. Candomblé is the religion of black Brazilians and it’s also a very important religion for gays, who participate in great numbers, being priests, initiating others; it’s marvelous. Sex is not a problem. It’s a solution, because it’s part of the communion with the supernatural. In no way is [GLBT life] different for Afro-Bahians. The beachheads of music and black culture are very vibrant and everyone lives and experiences these aspects of our culture differently from sexual orientation.
JK: In your view, how do Afro-Brazilian cultural and political groups relate to Afro-Brazilian gays?
MC: With regard to cultural groups and institutionalized black groups, they do have some difficulty in inserting the discourse of the gay movement into their political practice. It doesn’t occur on a daily basis because many blacks and mixed people relate themselves sexually with other men, be it for money or pleasure, without thinking about the gay aspect. Take soldiers, for example; and I’ve even had diverse lovers, including some who are policemen. They don’t assume that they are having affairs with a gay person. But military guys take part in fetish play and gay men give them what they want, they’re even looking for this kind of hookup in the majority of cases.
JK: One of the major issues black homosexuals (and African-American people in general) in the USA face is a rise in hiv/aids transmission levels. What is the principal issue for Afro-Brazilians? In Brazil and Bahia is AIDS a problem?
MC: In Bahia there are around 5,800 people identified as living with AIDS. The profile of the PWA here is male, the majority are men. We don’t have a breakdown by color or race. Condoms now have been absorbed into the practice of prevention. But among some people the myth exists that black men’s penises are stronger, thicker, and larger than whites’. Because of this, they think that black men don’t get infected by HIV. The majority of Bahians don’t believe this, but the myth exists. GGB has already distributed more two million condoms.
JK: Reading Brazilian websites and books by Brazilian authors, I see that so many aspects of Euro-American culture already are in Brazil: the “bear” phenomenon, circuit parties, and now barebacking (sex without protection). What do you think about these issues? Are they the result of globalization or a new form of psychic colonization?
MC: I think that the Brazilian gay movement is closely linked to the movement in the USA. And Brazilian gays are really turned on by our American brothers from the north. Sometimes everything is in English: parties (festas) here are called “party,” leaflets and fliers are called “fly”; even the model of the “body beautiful,” the “barbie” [Brazilian muscle man], is an import. Gay men go to the USA and return crazed, including bringing back novelties like barebacking. It is the effect of gay globalization, of the pride parades, but outside the language issues and sex without protection, I don’t see much that’s bad in all of this.
JK: Some Americans believe that Brazil is a country of greater openness and tolerance than the USA in terms of sexuality. But on the GGB site, you’ve documented many incidents of anti-GLBT violence, from attacks to murders. What is the reality in Brazil and in Bahia? What is the relation between class, homophobia, economics, inequality, and religion?
MC: Brazil is a country that’s learning pretty quickly to live with gays. Of course, inherent prejudices exist in poor countries. It’s true that homosexuals are killed here. More are killed than in Mexico, more than in the USA, and it’s a point of shame for us. Many gays are assassinated every year, the fruit of prejudice. It’s very contradictory, because Brazilian men like to have sex with gays. Perhaps it’s that they have a problem in acknowledging this posture; sometimes after the sex depression sets in. That happens in all places in the world. It is a question that requires ample reflection, an analysis of all the possibilities, including the question of poverty.
JK: What are some other current objectives of GGB? What are your goals now?
MC: The objectives of GGB consist of expanding the level of information in the general population about homosexuality and creating a culture of respect for differences. Our current goals are guaranteeing social space so that homosexual people can express themselves freely, equally placing the discussion about homosexuality on the political agenda and of human rights in Brazil.
John Keene is an author and teaches at Northwestern University.
