‘It is necessary to act quickly so that nothing affects a decision that is the result of years of struggle,’ says Daniela Mercury



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RIO – The singer Daniela Mercury sent, this Friday, a letter to the president of the Federal Supreme Court (STF), Luiz Fux, requesting a meeting to discuss the criminalization of LGBTphobia in Brazil. In the text addressed to the minister, who is also president of the CNJ (National Council of Justice), she shows special concern about the request of the Office of the Attorney General of the Nation (AGU) to the STF, last week, to respond if the decision of The Court that allowed the criminalization of homophobia and transphobia, recognizing them as a crime of racism, reaches the principle of “religious freedom”.

read: Author of action in STF that criminalizes homophobia reacts to AGU: ‘they want a blank letter to discriminate’

Daniela Mercury’s considerations are based precisely on the decision made by the Supreme Court last year, which is considered historic, since anyone who offends or discriminates against gays or transsexuals is subject to a penalty of one to three years in prison and, as in the case of racism, the crime is unspeakable and imprescriptible.

On the occasion, she and the woman, the businesswoman Malu Verçosa, personally followed the discussions in the house. “AGU’s request is vague, it does not explain what kind of situations it really refers to, but it aims to legitimize discriminatory behavior,” the singer wrote.

In an interview this Saturday afternoon, the artist said that Fux has already received the letter and said she believes that “dialogue will be established soon.” She also said she was interested in knowing the position of the STF nominee by Bolsonaro after the withdrawal of the deceased from the Court, Celso de Mello, on the subject.

Celso de Mello was the rapporteur of the case. The response to AGU’s request can be directed to his replacement. Judge Kássio Marques was appointed by President Bolsonaro and will be heard by the Federal Senate next week. You can reject the embargo or bring the issue up for debate in plenary.

Although the Supreme Court ruled on the case in June 2019, the decision was only published in the last 6, and the Attorney General of the Union, José Levi, filed the declaratory embargo within five business days. or redistributed.

– I think it is very important that we get this answer, to understand a little how the process is going to continue – he said in the next interview.

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O GLOBE – Why did you decide to send the letter to Minister Fux?

DANIELA MERCURY – I was recently invited to participate in the CNJ Human Rights Observatory, which was the idea of ​​Minister Luiz Fux, and which inserts me in a group that will dialogue for human rights. We had the first meeting a few days ago and it gave me the idea that this was a path of dialogue. I requested the meeting because I think there is a place for dialogue on the subject. As it is something related to a decision that the Supreme Court made a year and four months ago and that I was also following, I thought it was worth sending a letter to the minister, so that he also tells me what he considers possible and why what. take the discussion to the CNJ.

Were you surprised by AGU’s request?

As the decision has already been made and was already in effect, now is the time for prosecutors to initiate criminal proceedings for the crime of homophobia and transphobia. One of the things I wanted to know was exactly how actions of homophobia and transphobia were being judged, to understand how criminalization was occurring in practice. And, while I was discussing this issue with all my friends and members of the LGBTQUIA + community, this AGU resource appears, without the slightest sense, since everything was clarified in the decision of the STF itself. There are 600 pages in the sentence on the criminalization of homophobia, it was a long, deep and very signed sentence, with the report by Celso de Mello. The entire community and I feel very protected by this decision. At the moment when we are starting to take stocks, does this question arise? The sooner we clarify this, the more successful we will be in fighting impunity.

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What worries you most about AGU’s appeal?

The Attorney General’s Office is an important body, we cannot underestimate anything. We have to enter with great coherence, face what does not make sense immediately, so as not to have doubts. After all, we are in a democratic country, and when a state institution questions a decision of the Supreme Court, it is serious and important. We have to consider all the possible risks. It is necessary to act quickly so that nothing affects a decision that is the result of so many years of struggle by so many people and that is also fundamental in an extremely violent society. What I’d really like to know now is what Supreme Nominee Kassio Nunes thinks about the issue. They will be on sabbatical in the next few days, and I think that’s the big question. I think it’s very important that we get these answers, to understand a bit how the process will continue.

Do you have any response to the letter?

I know that he (Fux) has received and is reflecting on how he can receive all the information in the letter and the best way to absorb it. We already have a meeting scheduled for December and, certainly, this dialogue will take place anyway, because it is a space for conversation on these human rights issues. It is a legitimate space for dialogue. Now, what you are going to do with this letter, you are going to define it.

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How can your visibility as an artist help in this debate?

The more organized civil society is, the more achievements we have, the better democracy. I have participated and I have expressed myself when I think it is fundamental, it is a consistent way of participating in public life and everything that is collective and touches us. I think that Brazilian society needs to organize itself even more. Artists are very powerful citizens, obviously, they communicate very easily. People pay attention to what we say. That is why I have been working in the social field for so many years.

What has worried you most about contemporary Brazil?

We have a part of the population whose citizenship is not complete because the State cannot grant the rights of these people. The magnitude of the population was now understood, with emergency aid, in which we saw the number of people for whom that money was practically all they had to survive. It was identified a little what this social situation is like in Brazil, the most vulnerable, who need more attention. For me, a crucial question at the moment is how we are going to find ways in economic policies to solve these problems. We are seeing, for example, that if it weren’t for the SUS, we would be in a much worse situation in the pandemic. What society wants is the distribution and recognition of income, and the identity struggles are there also knocking on the door and taking up space. And you are hungry. We were already imagining, at the UN, that we could extinguish hunger from the face of the Earth. And now it has returned with great force due to the pandemic and the latest economic crises.

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