Brazil’s Human Rights Secretariat of the Presidency of the Republic (SDH) put together the National Committee for Public Policies for the LGBT Community (LGBT is an acronym used to refer to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people).
The committee aims to implement policies for the LGBT community in the Brazilian states and promote the discussion of topics relevant to the group.
The committee will include among its members officials appointed by state and local authorities. Leonardo Bastos, chairman of the National Forum of LGBT Managers, noted that the initiative may bring about improvements in the country’s LGBT politics and help decrease the number of acts of violence against the LGBT population.
According to Human Rights Minister Ideli Salvatti, Brazil still lacks a law that deal specifically with homophobia.
“We still lack it, because, sadly, we have seen serious cases of violence, discrimination and prejudice against LGBT people.”
She further pointed out that it is not possible to implement public policies if federal, state and municipal officials are not integrated.
“The creation of this committee today provides the foundation for this premise of integration, which is necessary so that we can advance and put into practice the policies most appropriate to the LGBT community.”
