Homosexuality in Brazilian Society
Homosexuality and homosexual individuals have been identified - or socially invented - in Brazilian society since the nineteenth century. Until then, emotional and sexual relations between people of the same sex were considered sodomy, shameful behaviour anyone could surrender to. As of the second half of the nineteenth century, homosexual practice began to define a special class of individuals, and consequently a new social category, which was marked, stigmatized and known under the name of homosexual, and considered a deviation from the standard. The individuals who fit, or were forced to fit, into this category began to live in secrecy, guided by fear and forced to bear the pains of social segregation. (Foucault, 1988; Silva, 2006; Trevisan, 2000).
The way Brazilian society saw homosexuality changed with time, especially after AIDS appeared on the scene, in the 80s; when society once again associated a disease with homosexuality and called AIDS gay cancer. In spite of this, the AIDS epidemic brought to the surface new social organization models for the homosexual community, giving it greater visibility and triggering a broader discussion of issues related to sexual behavior and gender identity in Brazilian society (Pereira, 2004). Despite the deep changes
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During the British North American era, same-sex sexual activity between men was a capital crime and resulted in the death penalty, however, there is no surviving record of any executions and political figures were reluctant to enforce the law. The death penalty was eventually repealed and a broader law involving gross indecency between men was often enforced in the late 19th century. During the early to mid-20th-century, the law often portrayed homosexual men as sex offenders. Same-sex sexual activity between consenting adults was soon decriminalized in 1969 as a result of legislation introduced in