Gay Group of Camaçari (Bahia)

The group will act together with public servants to change attitudes in order to promote respect for differences and combat discrimination and institutional violence against the LGBT public. The GGC will focus especially on the areas of Public Safety and Education, which present serious problems of institutional homophobia.

Meetings will be held with public representatives to present the problem. Educational materials and workshops for the public servants will look to sensitize them to the issue. Also to be implemented is the “Citizens’ Desk,” in order to receive reports of violence and discrimination, which will be forwarded to the relevant authorities.

Finally, the group intends to act politically for the approval of a law or municipal directive that allows the trans (transvestite or transsexual) public to be identified by their social name in public services.

Context

The group points out that, since the beginning of the 1980s, there has been a strengthening of the struggle for the human rights of lesbians, gays, bissexuals and transgender populations in Brazil. This growing organization and visibility have allowed for evaluation with greater clarity of the serious violations of this population’s human rights.

Lethal violence against homosexuals — and especially against transvestites and transgenders — is one of the most tragic aspects of sexual orientation discrimination or homophobia in Brazil. The GGC cites data from the Gay Group of Bahia that shows the Northeast as the most homophobic region in the country: responsible for 30% of the population and registering, in 2010, 43% of the cases of LGBT murders. Bahia leads the ranking, with 29 homicides.

Located in the metropolitan region of Salvador, with more than 200 thousand inhabitants, Camaçari depends on the petrochemical industry, which concentrates a mostly male, migrant population as its workforce. The municipality reflects the incidence of homophobia, with the alarming rise of cases of violence by the police; discrimination in public services; and homophobic bullying practiced, and tolerated, by schools, which forces LGBT populations to abandon their studies.

About the GGC

The GGC was created to promote the citizenship and defend the rights of lesbians, gays, bissexuals, transvestites and transgenders, contributing to the construction of a democracy without any forms of discrimination, affirming the freedom of sexual orientation and gender identity.

The group has led the last ten editions of the Gay Parade of Camaçari, in addition to organizing training activities and offering legal assistance to their target public. The GGC executed several projects in the areas of health, especially STDs and AIDS, as well as human rights, with the support of distinct spheres and governmental organizations at the federal, state and municipal levels, along with international institutions.

Among its advocacy, special recognition is merited for the accomplishment of municipal Free Passage laws (for use of public transportation by persons living with HIV/AIDS without being identified as such); the designation of December 1st as the Municipal Day Against AIDS; and the law combating homophobia.

The GGC also includes the Bahian Forum of AIDS NGOs; the National AIDS Movement; the Brazilian LGBT Association and Bahian LGBT Forum.