Discover the new technologies that support the movement
By Emily Gomes
Source: Google Images
June, the month of pride, when companies put the rainbow on their brands and on their app routes. A date on which people speak of respect for people and every form of love, as Lulu Santos was already arguing, even though he was not the first to raise the flag.
The LGBTQIA + movement is full of history and of celebrated figures who had a great deal to go through in this world so that people can now live as they are. The LGBTQIA+ Pride Parade in São Paulo, one of the movement’s largest events in Brazil, had a record turnout. Around 4 million people surrounded by a great deal of rainbow.
See below where the celebration of pride month came from.
The Stonewall uprising
In the 1960s in the USA there were still stricter rules around the consumption of alcoholic drinks, and the union of homosexual people was not permitted either. As bizarre as it may seem, a good part of the US states in that period prohibited same-sex relationships from existing, with the last law of that kind abolished only in 2003.
In this context, queer people, travestis, transsexuals, gays, lesbians, intersex people and everyone different from what was expected lived on the margins of society, and gathered in clandestine bars, such as Stonewall Inn. This gay bar in New York brought together people who, because of their sexuality, had been thrown out of their own homes.
Because of the prohibition laws of the time, the local police were raiding the venue on the pretext of illegal alcohol consumption by Stonewall’s patrons. 28 June 1969 was the date of one of those raids.
Tired of the repeated raids and of the prejudice already constantly experienced there, the people in the bar rose up against the police officers and drove them out, in a rebellion that lasted days in which marginalised people took to the streets to show pride in who they are. The movement left the USA and soon reached Europe and the rest of the world.
As it is more than 50 years since that uprising took place, 28 June is celebrated as the day of pride in people being what they are, from that date onwards. Since then the movement has been organising more and more in order to have and secure its rights.
Tired of the repeated raids and of the prejudice already constantly experienced there, the people in the bar rose up against the police officers and drove them out in a rebellion that lasted days. Marginalised people took to the streets to show pride in who they are. The movement left the USA and soon reached Europe and the rest of the world.
As it is more than 50 years since that uprising took place, 28 June is celebrated as the day of pride in people being what they are, from that date onwards. Since then the movement has been organising more and more in order to have and secure its rights.
Challenges facing the movement
There are cultures in which it is illegal to be TLGBQA+. Countries in which it is not permitted to express one’s sexuality, going as far as the death penalty. Countries such as Brunei, Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and states in northern Nigeria are on that list.
The WHO removed it from the list of illnesses and as an ‘orientation disorder’ in 1992. Until then, much was cancelled and taboos were created to keep the community invisible.
Because of that change in the laws, the movement came together to fight for its rights, giving rise to organisations such as the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, which monitors laws relating to homosexuality all over the world.
Violence in Brazil
Our country is at the top of the list of countries that commit the most violence against TLGBQI+ people in the world. According to the Grupo Gay da Bahia, in 2021 around 300 violent deaths of people in the movement were recorded, almost one a day.
Brazil is also the nation that kills the most trans people in the world, according to Antra (Associação Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais).
LGBTQIA+ rights in Brazil
The LGBTQIA + movement gained strength with Somos in the 1990s, which went on to create more associations to secure the rights of this group. The first victory came with the Instituto Nacional de Assistência Médica da Previdência Social (Inamps) in 1985.
The 1988 Federal Constitution is already a result of that struggle for LGBTQIA+ rights, as regards freedom of expression, the prohibition of discrimination, and above all the guarantee of civil and political rights.
In 2013, civil marriage between homosexual people was upheld by the Supremo Tribunal Federal.
There was also progress on the use of the social name for transsexual women and travestis in 2016 and, from 2022 onwards, the Lei Maria da Penha can be applied to transsexual women.
Even so, because it is still recent, a culture needs to be created in every social and workplace sphere so that people know how to welcome and treat everyone with humanity. That is why creating inclusion and diversity policies is essential in legitimising the population’s demands.
Inclusion and Diversity
More than half of LGBTQIA+ people feel uncomfortable in the labour market. And there is still prejudice on the part of companies when hiring people from the movement. For that reason, it is important to create a culture of inclusion that respects diversity.
“If companies today do not have diversity, that is not the responsibility of those outside the market, but of those inside it. If most companies today are made up of white, heterosexual, upper-middle-class men in leadership positions, it is because they do not know how to do diversity,” said Glasser, on the Valor. live stream.
The proposal of inclusion and diversity in companies is to genuinely have representation and not just the same people in power.
Technology for diversity
Technology is an ally when it helps movements bring the LGBTQIA + population together so that they can be socially included and gain skills for the labour market. There are some apps that contribute a great deal to making this happen, as well as digital communities, as we will see below.
Dandara app
Named in honour of a trans woman who was murdered in 2017, this app proposes gathering data in a cloud to map danger zones for the vulnerable LGBTQIA + population. Developed by FioCruz, the aim is for the app to reach national scale.
Nohs Somos
This is an app panic button that, when triggered, provides support to victims who are suffering or have suffered an LGBT-phobic attack. It also maps Florianópolis with the safest areas.
Todxs
It is a carefully researched map that allows contact with lawyers prepared to defend the movement’s causes, the laws they can turn to, and the cities most open to the movement. The Todxs app also gives access to events and LGBTQIA + bodies, so as genuinely to support people and give them greater safety.
EducaTRANSforma
EducaTRANSforma is a project that trains transgender people to enter the technology field. It is free for those who meet the requirements.
Liga Transformadora LGBT
The Liga Transformadora LGBT consists of a team of professionals who accompany a group for three months to offer psychological and therapeutic support, LGBT law, English classes and much more. The service is free.
Collectives
Technology has supported the action and the continuity of collectives. One example is the Diversifixe collective in Piracicaba, which held its meetings online and produced content with people from various places. “Technology was essential to the continuity of Diversifixe, especially in its current format; it made it possible to connect people regardless of geographical distance,” says Max Agostini, co-founder of the current Diversifixe community.
Social media
Through TikTok and other social networks, it was quite easy for the movement to spread. Today, LGBT series are widely watched on streaming platforms, such as Heartstopper.
There is more space at events. There is an LGBT stand at the Bienal do Livro de São Paulo, which is one of the largest literature events in Brazil.
Both the violence and the advances within the movement are broadcast with even greater reach. The Black Lives Matter movement walked alongside Black Trans Lives Matter. Celebrities such as Elliot Page give the movement a greater voice thanks to their standing, and icons such as Pabllo Vittar and Gloria Groove gain prominence in prime time on Brazilian television.
Technology therefore fosters greater safety and accessibility for LGBTQIA + people who find themselves vulnerable to society’s violence. Through inclusion and diversity, the movement is reaching politics, technology and the whole world.
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You have read an article produced by Casa Hacker, a non-profit initiative dedicated to fighting social inequality through technology education.
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