Brazil's largest newspaper protests by putting a marvel same-sex kiss on its front page.

12 Sep 2019
Chad St. James
Categories: Latest News, Arts + Culture

Well, this is how you fight a homophobic mayor!

Folha de São Paulo, Brazil's most prominent newspaper published an illustrated sam-sex kiss between two Marvel characters on its front page, in protest against the mayor of Rio de Janeiro and his quest to ban LGBTQ+ content.

Marcelo Crivella, who is a former bishop and also proven time and time again he's no friend of Dorothy, even claiming homosexuality is "evil behaviour" has demanded that copies of the comic book, Avengers: The Children's Crusade, is to be withdrawn from a book fair because he claims it included unsuitable content for minors.

The comic features a same-sex kiss between characters Wiccan and Hulking was initially published in 2010 and has been available in Brazil since 2012.

"It is not right for them to have early access to subjects that are not appropriate for their ages," Crivella said, "Books like this need to be wrapped in black sealed plastic with a content warning displayed on the outside."

However, Mariana Zahar, who is the vice-president of the National Union of Book Publishers and organisers of the book fair, said "It is an attack on freedom of expression. We will fight this to the end."

In an ironic twist, after the mayor intervened, copies of the comic book swiftly sold out. The Supreme Court has since made it illegal to ban any LGBTQ publication, and ruled Crivella's actions were unlawful because he only targeted those with LGBTQ+ content.

According to the editor of Folha de São Paulo, Sérgio Dávila, the Brazillian publication posted the "offending" same-sex kiss on their front page to "throw light on censorship threats."

"The mission of professional journalism and a newspaper like Folha is to be uncompromising with obscurantist attempts and to shed light on threats of censorship,"

The comic's illustrator, Jim Cheung, said in a post on Instagram that the the fact that the comic "is now being drawn into the spotlight by the mayor perhaps only highlights how out of touch he might be with the current times."

"The LGBTQ community is here to stay, and I have nothing but love and support for those who continue to struggle for validity and a voice to be heard," Cheung added.

View this post on Instagram

Teddy & Billy (2019) . It was with great surprise today, to learn that the mayor of Rio de Janeiro decided to ban the sale of my (and Allan Heinberg's) book, Avengers:The Children's Crusade, for alleged inappropriate material. . For those not familiar with the work from 2010, the controversy involves a kiss between two male characters. . Now I don't know what prompted the mayor to seek out a work that is almost a decade old, and that had already been on sale for many years, but I can say honestly, that there was no hidden motivation or agendas behind the work in promoting any particular lifestyle, nor targeting any unique audience. The scene merely depicts a tender moment between two characters who are in an established relationship. . As an artist, my passion is to tell stories; stories of great heroism, compassion and love, with as authentic and diverse characters as possible. Characters that depict every walk of life and color, whether they be black or white, brown, yellow or green. . The fact that this book, from almost a decade ago, is now being drawn into the spotlight by the mayor perhaps only highlights how out of touch he might be with the current times. The LGBTQ community is here to stay, and I have nothing but love and support for those who continue to struggle for validity and a voice to be heard. . I hope the beautiful people of Brazil, the wonderfully diverse and proud nation, will see through this political 'noise' and place their focus on the light, and on ways to unite, rather than help sow the seeds of conflict and division . #TeddyAltman #Hulkling #BillyKaplan #Wiccan #YoungAvengers #AvengersChildrensCrusade #MarvelComics #Marvel #Comics #MCU #pencils #pencildrawing #process #JimCheung #LoveNotHate #LGBTQ

A post shared by Jim Cheung (@jimcheungart) on


Even though members of the LGBTQ+ community have some rights, including same-sex marriage, Brazil can still be a dangerous place for LGBTQ+ people. President Jalr Bolsonaro has made his views of the LGBTQ+ community very clear, previously saying he would rather his son die in an accident than be gay.

Kudos to Folha de São Paulo for taking a stand for equal rights!!!

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