"I choose to continue living," says Jean Wyllys.

Text by Jean Wyllys (Letter collected by Christiana Martins, from the newspaper Expresso.) - Shortly before the vote in the Chamber of Deputies on the impeachment process against President Dilma Rousseff (that poorly disguised coup d'état that started Brazil's current tragedy), a criminal organization dedicated to spreading fake news invented a promise I never made: that if the impeachment were approved, I would leave Brazil.

Millions of people shared the lie on social media and in WhatsApp groups, and from the day after the vote, I began to receive, day after day, week after week, month after month, thousands of messages through every possible channel demanding that I fulfill the promise I had never made. "Have you bought the tickets yet, congressman?" asked the more polite ones. It's best not to mention the others, because the level of violence and rudeness is frankly unbearable.

Years later, when the judicial persecution began that would end with the political imprisonment of former president Lula (the best president in our history, now held captive in Curitiba by the regime of exception that has taken over the country), the false promise was updated: "Jean Wyllys says he will leave Brazil if Lula is arrested." And again, now after the former president's imprisonment, the demands began: "Are you already in Venezuela, congressman?"

In the parallel universe of fake news, I am a "Bolivarian" politician and I even defend the North Korean regime.

It doesn't matter what I've written about Venezuela and how much I've been criticized by leftists over the past few years for denouncing the human rights violations committed by Nicolás Maduro's authoritarian regime: in the parallel universe of fake news, I'm a "Bolivarian" politician and I even defend the North Korean regime. And now that, without ever having promised it and after leaving the country due to death threats I've received, the narrative in this parallel universe is that I finally fulfilled "the promise."

The vicious cycle described above perhaps serves to explain the hell we are living through. The distinction between lies and truth has disappeared. These people in power use lies and hatred as their main political weapons, to destroy their adversaries, deceive people, impose their authoritarian project, and hide their crimes. If you oppose their interests, as I did for eight years in Congress, you become a target, and there are no limits to the kinds of things they are capable of doing.

Associating a homosexual politician with pedophilia is a very effective tactic that takes advantage of people's fear to reinforce their worst prejudices.

In the parallel universe they created, I am the author of bills to change passages in the Bible (as if that were possible!), legalize marriage between adults and children and between people and animals, institute mandatory teaching of the Islamic religion in schools, and force children to change their sex, among other barbarities.

I directed a film about Jesus Christ, they say, and it was state-funded. Nobody has ever seen the film, which doesn't exist, but thousands are outraged by it. They also say I had a Christian teacher arrested, that I said the Bible is a joke, and that Christians are sick.

They attribute to me several statements defending pedophiles and saying that pedophilia is "a sexual orientation that should be accepted," because associating a homosexual politician with pedophilia is a very effective tactic that takes advantage of people's fear to reinforce their worst prejudices. They spread doctored photos in which I hold signs with absurd phrases, or false newspaper headlines reporting things I never did or said, and even maliciously edited videos.

Several politicians and religious leaders have been convicted of defaming me, but nothing has changed.

Imagine for a second what it means for a person (not a congressman, but anyone) to become the target of this type of campaign. Millions of people believe that I defend pedophiles and hate me for it. It's so aberrant that even I, if I weren't myself and believed this lie, wouldn't like myself. My communications team has dedicated almost as much time in recent years to debunking lies as to publicizing my projects.

A congressman from the "bullet caucus" is a defendant in the Supreme Federal Court for disseminating a crudely altered video to defame me. In the original video, I stated that racist training leads many public security agents to believe that a Black person is potentially more dangerous than a white person. In the altered video, which was shared on social media by hundreds of thousands of people, the phrase is cut and I simply say that "a Black person is potentially more dangerous than a white person."

Another congressman from President Bolsonaro's party was sentenced by the courts to 2 years and 26 days in prison under an open regime for slander and defamation against me: he attributed to me the phrase "pedophilia is a normal practice in various species," which also went viral on social media. Several politicians and religious leaders have been convicted of defaming me, but nothing has changed.

When the entire machine is working to destroy someone's reputation, the effect is devastating. In my case, there's a specific factor – I'm gay.

The Brazilian far-right's defamation machine is very powerful. These people have a lot of money and infrastructure, which allows them to "viralize" any lie at such speed that all the efforts of the victims and the media outlets dedicated to fact-checking and exposing lies are largely ineffective.

They have websites hosted on servers abroad, bots that manage thousands of fake profiles on social media, WhatsApp groups with millions of people who receive and forward fake news, fundamentalist evangelical pastors who reproduce the lies in their services, and even bizarre celebrities who use their own profiles for this purpose.

Millions of people believe every lie, and when the entire machine is working to destroy someone's reputation, as has happened to me for years and happened during the last campaign with Fernando Haddad and Manuela D'Ávila, the effect is devastating.

However, in my case, there is a specific aspect to it. I am gay and I am a public figure who has become a positive role model for sexual minorities and other excluded and defamed groups whose rights I defended for eight years in the National Congress.

The fact that I am gay simultaneously leads to a trivialization of the violence against me and an underestimation of the threats when I report them.

Brazil is the country that kills the most LGBT people. Hundreds die each year in hate crimes committed with unusual violence. Homophobia is a very serious problem in the country, and in recent times the political climate has made things worse. Today we have in the Presidential Palace a president who made his career spreading hatred against minorities and especially against us, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and trans people. The man who is the embodiment of homophobia in Brazil now occupies the Presidency of the Republic.

In this context, the intense campaign of lies against me, which seeks to destroy my reputation, has encouraged threats to my life like never before. And the fact that I am gay simultaneously trivializes the violence against me and underestimates the threats when I report them.

I have been receiving threats for many years. My team periodically delivers the evidence to the Federal Police, and we have even chosen to publicly expose the perpetrators of these crimes, publishing both the threats and the slander on social media along with the profile pictures of the authors. We have also appealed to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which has demanded that the Brazilian State protect my life.

The threats increased again, even affecting my family. I had to start traveling in an armored car with armed guards.

Last year, everything got worse. The assassination of my partner and personal friend Marielle Franco, a city councilwoman from our party in Rio de Janeiro, had a profound impact on all of us. We understand that this is no joke, that the threats are serious, and that we cannot underestimate them. We felt the deep pain of losing someone we loved and who was a part of our lives.

We witnessed the gruesome spectacle of the fake news machine, the same one that defames me, trying to tarnish Marielle's name, even accusing her of having ties to drug trafficking. We saw a candidate from Bolsonaro's party being cheered by a crowd at a fascist rally when he proudly displayed a torn sign with Marielle's name on it. We saw this candidate become the most voted state representative in the state, and the man who accompanied him in this macabre celebration being elected governor.

The threats escalated again, even affecting my family. I had to travel in an armored car with armed guards. For months I lived as if I were in captivity, without having committed any crime. I couldn't go anywhere without the guards, not even to buy groceries or visit a friend.

I didn't leave Brazil because I wanted to, I was forced to.

All my movements became restricted, limited, and controlled. I began to live only half a life, a slave to the security measures necessary to protect my life, while the threats and defamation increased. In recent days, we learned through the press that the president's son employed in his office the wife and mother of the fugitive criminal who, according to the police, is suspected of leading the group of hitmen who killed Marielle. I cannot feel safe in this context, nor can I guarantee the safety of the people who worked with me all these years, to whom I am immensely grateful for everything.

I didn't leave Brazil because I wanted to; I was forced to. The country has plunged into a fascist nightmare, and remaining here puts our lives at risk.

I don't want to be a martyr. I don't want to end up like Marielle.

Former Uruguayan President Pepe Mujica, upon learning of the situation, told me: "Young man, take care! Martyrs are not heroes." I don't want to be a martyr. I don't want to have the same end as Marielle. I choose to remain alive, also to continue fighting. Leaving my mandate and the country was an extremely difficult, painful, and sad decision. I gave up a lot to protect my life and regain my freedom of movement, my humanity. I hope that this decision I had to make opens the eyes of many people, that the world sees the tragedy that is happening in Brazil, a country that was once happy, hopeful, and proud of itself, and today is submerged in hatred, lies, and fascism.

I will not give up the fight, even if it's from another place, without an official position, in other ways. I am very grateful for the solidarity I have received and I hope that we can rebuild and recover our country from this state of barbarity.