by Thaddeus Baklinski
SÃO PAULO, Brazil, August 4, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) - South America’s largest city, which hosts what is reported to be the wold’s largest ‘gay pride’ march, is set to have an official “Heterosexual Pride Day” every third Sunday in December. The city council has approved the measure and it awaits the mayor’s signature.
The legislation was authored by Evangelical Councilman Carlos Apolinário, a member of the Democrats Party, who said his intent was not to discriminate against homosexuals but rather as a counter to the “excesses and privileges” of the homosexual community, and to “raise awareness and encourage the public to safeguard the morals and good customs” of the Municipality of São Paulo.
Heterosexual Pride Day is “not anti-gay, but a protest against the privileges the gay community enjoys,” Apolinário told the media.
São Paulo, a city of 20 million, is home to what has been described as the world’s largest “gay pride” march, with, according to Brazilian tourism authorities, more than 3 million homosexuals attending the event on Paulista Avenue in 2011.
Apolinário pointed out that Paulista Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares in the city, is used by the homosexuals for their parade, but the “March for Jesus,” organized by a major evangelical protestant ministry in Brazil and attracting an equal number of participants, is not allowed on the same avenue.
“I respect gays and I am against any kind of aggression made against them,” Apolinario said. “I have no trouble coexisting with gays as long as their behavior is normal.”
Unlike the March for Jesus, usually held three days before the annual homosexual march, the Gay Parade is frequently marred by violence between participants, according to Brazilian homosexual news outlets.
Homosexual marchers at the event routinely report numerous robberies and thefts, mostly of cameras, cell phones, and wallets. Drug abuse is “explicit” according to the newspaper Folha de Sao Paulo, particularly the use of the aphrodisiac drug “ecstasy”.
G Online (the web version of G Magazine, a Brazilian homosexual publication), noted that in a previous year’s march, “the G Online team, which covered the event throughout the day and throughout the march route, investigated various unpleasant scenes along the avenue. Shoving, fights, drunkenness and thefts were common during the Parade.”
In contrast, the Brazilian media reported no criminal incidents during the March for Jesus.
Sao Paulo Mayor Gilberto Kassab must sign the legislation before it becomes official. Kassab told the media he will study the bill but would not comment on whether he supports the measure.
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