Brazil’s Homophobic President Said a Reporter’s Face Is ‘Like a Homosexual’s’
Brazil’s antigay president, Jair Bolsonaro, recently lamented at a press conference about how the media treats him.
While there, he tried to show parallels by telling a reporter: “Your face looks an awful lot like a homosexual’s, but that’s no reason to accuse you of being a homosexual.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time Jair made such comments.
He’s also said that he’d rather have a dead son than a gay one, and is currently involved in a scandal with one of his sons, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro. Apparently, Flávio is accused of hiring “phantom” employees (those with nothing to do) when he was a state lawmaker.
The Associated Press reports that the father and son may have “kicked back part of [their employees’] salaries to then be laundered through a chocolate shop he co-owns.”
Jair continues to claim that journalists are biased against him and his son. The reporter whom he said had a face like a homosexual has not disclosed his name.
“To whom did I say was terribly homosexual … is he not here today?” Jair asked, attempting to explain the comment to Brazilian outlet Globo.com, according to Gay City News. “Send him a kiss from me! It’s just like football: Up front, from time to time, you send your colleague to the [torture chamber], and then go out for a drink with him afterwards. Yes, I make a mistake. I should not have spoken.”
It’s clear that this guy doesn’t seem to be bothered uprooting horrific biases and stereotypes among his people, but hopefully he will learn to tread lightly after this. (We won’t hold our breaths, though.)