Brazil's Supreme Court has blocked attempts to ban a Marvel comic book for including a same-sex kiss, AFP reports.
Rio's Mayor Marcelo Crivella, an Evangelical Protestant, had demanded the confiscation of Avengers: The Children’s Crusade from Rio's book fair, citing content "inappropriate" for minors. The content he was referring to was a single image of Marvel superheros Wiccan and Hulkling exchanging a kiss, fully dressed.
However, Brazil's top court disagreed with Crivella, who was elected in 2016 - ruling that his actions unfairly targeted LGBTIQ+ content and therefore violated the constitutional guarantee of equality for all.
In response to the attempted censorship, Brazil's biggest newspaper, Folha de S. Paulo, published the image in question on its front page - earning praise on social media from members of the LGBTIQ+ community.
According to The Guardian, the Brazilian newspaper's mission was to “throw light on censorship threats”.
“It is an attack on freedom of expression,” Mariana Zahar, the vice-president of the National Union of Book Publishers, said.
“We will fight this to the end.”
Still, for those in Brazil, the brazen attack on LGBTIQ+ art and literature roused fears of moving backwards. Same-sex marriage is already legal in Brazil, with Brazil's Supreme Court voting to criminalise homophobia earlier this year.
"It’s Independence Day in Brazil but it feels like it’s 1580; evangelical pastor/Rio mayor appealed to state court to have books for kids portraying LGBTQs confiscated from the biggest book festival in the country," one local tweeted.
