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The Secretary of State for the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, André Moz Caldas, made a point when referring in an interview to the University of Lisbon magazine, where he is a guest assistant at the Faculty of Law, his homosexuality and the fact of being married to another man. “I am the first member of the government to marry a person of the same sex and I do not make public fanfare, but I also do not feel that it is just an aspect of my personal life”.
And it is to help combat a prejudice that still exists: “I don’t know why homophobia exists, it is a yoke from which society is going to free itself, but there is still some way to get there” – who now share her sexual orientation. André Moz Caldas hopes that his example will show other young Portuguese that “they are not ostracized.” “If there is a young man who, with my example, can feel more free to live his sexual orientation openly, he would be very happy.”
In the same interview, the Secretary of State admits that he never felt “victimized” because of his sexual orientation, but acknowledges that living in a “progressive social and family context” in Lisbon meant that he had not had the negative experiences of that other homosexuals pass. “Those who belong to a minority have to have a lot of energy to give him permanent respect,” he says.
André Moz Caldas, a master in law and dentistry from the University of Lisbon and former president of the Alvalade parish council, is the second member of a Portuguese government to reveal his sexual orientation in an interview. Graça Fonseca, now Minister of Culture, also did it, in an interview with Diário de Notícias when she was Secretary of State.
