Singer-songwriter Yann has enlisted a host of celebrities for his latest music video—to help spread awareness about anti-LGBT violence in Brazil.
The film clip for Igual (Equal) features celebrities including Britney Spears, Demi Lovato, John Waters, Celine Dion, Tegan Quinn (Tegan and Sara) and Lorde, who either blow kisses or make a heart shape with their hands to show support.
The shots of celebrities are cut between black and white clips of members of Brazil’s LGBT+ community who hold up troubling statistics on placards—including one that reads: ’38 per cent of Brazilians are against same-sex couples having the same rights as “traditional couples”.’
The clip also points out that, every 25 hours, an LGBT person is killed by a hate crime in Brazil but no there are no laws that criminalise anti-LGBT+ violence.
In one scene, a trans woman holds up a sign that says: ’42 per cent of the world’s murders of trans people happen in Brazil.’
“Unfortunately, most of the world isn’t aware that Brazil is an incredibly dangerous place for the LGBT community,” Yann said in a statement.
“It was important for me to help shine a stronger light on what’s happening here, because Brazil’s actually the country with the highest LGBT murder rate in the world.
“Yet, all of this is disguised under our dichotomous liberal lifestyle.”
The statistics appear to be taken from the Gay Group of Bahia’s (GGB) annual report that counts anti-LGBT+ violence and discrimination. The organisation’s founder Luiz Mott said earlier this year that the “alarming numbers” are just the top of the iceberg.
“Since there are no government statistics on hate crimes, they are always under-reported because our database is based on news published in the media, the internet and personal information.”
In September this year, a Brazilian judge lifted a ban on gay conversion therapy that's been in place since 1999, ruling that homosexuality was "a disease".
Yann’s video is dedicated to the 343 LGBT+ people who were killed by hate crimes in Brazil in 2016 with proceeds from the song going towards LGBT+ charity, NGO Grupo Arco-Iris.
You can watch the full Igual video below.
