São Paulo Pride draws thousands

Parade attendees urge government to criminalize homophobic behaviour

Thousands of revellers took to São Paulo’s streets May 4 to celebrate the city’s 18th Pride parade, calling on government to establish legislation to combat hate crime motivated by homophobia, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reports.

Estimates from police and event organizers of the parade’s size typically conflict, and this year was no different. While organizers claimed that more than one million people turned out for the event, authorities quoted the more conservative figure of 100,000, United Press International (UPI) says.

Grupo Gay de Bahia reports that while crimes against LGBT people in Brazil decreased from 2012, more than 300 people were killed because of their sexual orientation or gender identity in 2013. AFP says lawmakers with Catholic and evangelical Christian affiliations have resisted the introduction of hate-crime legislation.

Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

Read More About:
Travel, Politics, Culture, Power, News, Pride

Keep Reading

Kenya Pleaser with an up arrow behind her; Discord Addams with a down arrow behind her

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 18, Episode 10 power ranking: The ‘Drag Race’ miracle

No one goes home, but we have one queen to discuss who has previously escaped our notice
Kenya Pleaser

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Season 18, Episode 10 recap: Trash into treasure

The eliminated queens’ parting gifts serve as the materials for this week’s design challenge
Michael B. Jordan in Sinners; Leonardo DiCaprio in One Battle After Another

Will ‘Sinners’ win Best Picture at the Oscars?

“One Battle After Another” seemed locked in to win the film industry’s top prize. But a once-simple awards race has gone haywire
The cover of Staying Power by Zena Sharman; Zena Sharman

Zena Sharman’s new book stitches death, life and sex into a beautiful tapestry

In “Staying Power,” kink and community help Sharman navigate parenthood, divorce and the death of her mother