Women in Ceará reject the nomination of Dr. Silvana to the Human Rights Commission.

Representatives of the "Women of Ceará with Dilma" Movement were at the Legislative Assembly this morning, submitting a manifesto to the presidency of the house, in which they express their repudiation of the nomination of state deputy Dr. Silvana Oliveira (PMDB) to the presidency of the Human Rights Commission.

According to the document, "with total disregard for the secular state, the congresswoman uses religion and the figure of God to disseminate her homophobic ideas, intolerance, and the symbolic representation of violence against free sexual orientation in the plenary, to the people and to the press, ignoring that freedom and human dignity are legal rights protected as an entrenched clause in our Constitution. The Feminist Movement has always positioned itself as a space of resistance, especially in opposition to the growth of conservative and discriminatory ideas, and alongside other social movements, it has forged and continues to forge the struggle for democracy and for the recognition and consecration of human rights in all their dimensions."

Later today, in the late afternoon, the movement will be gathered with other groups at the Assembly to discuss a coordinated action and try to reverse the nomination of the congresswoman to the Commission.

 Below is the full text of the document:

 For a Ceará without Homophobia

              Women from Ceará, belonging to various social movements in our state and who defend the values ​​and principles that constitute the ideals of human rights, express their repudiation of the appointment to the Human Rights Commission of the Legislative Assembly of the fundamentalist and homophobic deputy Silvana Oliveira, known for her statement that "God does not allow gay marriage, He destroyed Sodom because of that."

              With utter disregard for the secular state, the congresswoman uses religion and the figure of God to disseminate her homophobic ideas, intolerance, and symbolic representation of violence against free sexual orientation in the plenary, to the people, and to the press, ignoring that freedom and human dignity are legal rights protected as an entrenched clause in our Constitution.

              The Feminist Movement has always positioned itself as a space of resistance, especially in opposition to the growth of conservative and discriminatory ideas, and alongside other social movements it has forged and continues to forge the struggle for democracy and for the recognition and consecration of human rights in all their dimensions.

              Disagreement from conservative sectors regarding advancements in human rights in our country, and even public expressions of their ideas, are acceptable in the democracy we fought so hard to build. However, for conservatives and fundamentalists to use the institutional spaces established for the defense of these rights, so dear to the people of Ceará and Brazil, as the congresswoman intends to do, is unacceptable, because they are playing to score an own goal.

              Human rights are meant to protect everyone, without distinction, but they carry a special burden of protection for potential victims of prejudice and discrimination, such as women, Black people, people with disabilities, the poor, and the LGBTT population. Through her statements and actions, Representative Silvana is acting against all of this, therefore she lacks the legitimacy to preside over the CDDH (Commission on Human Rights and Citizenship) of the Assembly, whose role would be to repel and correct her own actions.

              We appeal to the President of the Legislative Assembly, to the other parliamentarians, as well as to the entire society of Ceará, to combat any practice marked by the various types of prejudice and discrimination, which are intolerable in a nation that aspires to be democratic and egalitarian.

Women of Ceará with Dilma: for a world without racism, without sexism, and without homophobia.