Pernambuco is second in the number of deaths of homosexuals.

Leonardo Lucena_PE247 – Pernambuco ranked second among states with the highest number of deaths in 2012 within the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) segment. In 2012, there were 33 murders, representing a 32% increase in registered cases compared to the previous year, when there were 25 murders motivated by homophobia. The state of São Paulo leads the ranking of such deaths, with 45 crimes, and Bahia is in third place, with 29 homicides. The data comes from the Gay Group of Bahia (GGB), the oldest institution defending homosexuals in Brazil, founded in the 80s.

According to Rhemo Guedes, coordinator of the State Center for Combating Homophobia (CECH), linked to the executive secretariat of Social Justice and Human Rights, one of the factors that explains this increase is the investigation of crimes taking into account the motivation for the murder.

“We are not only looking to find out how many crimes have occurred against LGBT people, but also what caused the deaths of these people (homophobia),” says Guedes. According to him, the State Government has been working to combat homophobia through CECH and the creation of Working Groups (WGs) linked to the segment. “That invisibility that the LGBT theme usually has is beginning to be combated,” he says. However, the leader observes that prejudice means that many cases are not reported.

Research showed that, nationally, the number of deaths rose by 27%, from 266 in 2011 to 338 the following year. Of the total murders against the LGBT group in 2012, only 84 had their perpetrators identified and only 24 were arrested, according to GGB. Since 2005, when there were 81 murders, the number of homicides registered within this segment has increased by 317%.

Due to the increasing number of homicides against gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender people, a new Code of Criminal Procedure is being processed in the National Congress, which provides for the criminalization of homophobia, the practice of which could result in sentences ranging from two to five years in prison. And, if the crime is committed against a child or adolescent, the penalty may increase by one-third to one-half of what is provided for by the legislation.

According to the bill, homophobia will become a non-bailable crime with no statute of limitations. For Rhemos Guedes, the reform is positive because it will compensate for the lack of specific legislation. "We don't have legal parameters to define the crime caused by homophobia," he said.

However, the bill's approval faces resistance from members of the religious bloc in parliament, especially evangelicals, partly because the project, which is expected to be voted on by Congress in June, includes other items such as the decriminalization of drug use for personal consumption and the legalization of abortion when the fetus has a brain malformation or, for some reason, puts the pregnant woman's life at risk.