In Brazil, the legal recognition of same-sex unions by the Supreme Court in 2011, was the turning point for "anti-gender crusaders". It was in the aftermath of this groundbreaking decision that the hysteria around "gender ideology" gained momentum and visibility.
Since then the evangelical parliamentary bloc, a key force behind Bolsonaro's successful candidacy, has systematically tried to undermine the expansion of sexual rights, including same-sex marriage and reproductive rights, and particularly the right to abortion. They have regularly submitted proposed legislation, including draft laws to recognise the "rights" of an unborn child, to define the family as a unit consisting of a man, a woman and their children, and to criminalise abortion even in the case of rape.[...]
Bolsonaro's own career as an "anti-gender crusader" also started back in 2011. Then and now, Brazil has been dealing with alarming rates of violent deaths related to homophobia. In 2017, reports registered at least 445 LGBTQI deaths, a 30 percent increase from 2016. In this context, in 2011 then Education Minister Fernando Haddad (now Bolsonaro's former election opponent), launched an initiative to distribute educational materials aimed at combating homophobia and discrimination in schools.[...]
Then in 2018 during his election campaign, Bolsonaro not only embodied and praised this hegemonic form of masculinity but also actively projected himself as a crusader against "gender ideology". "Anti-gender" rhetoric was also generously used even in the fake news campaign aimed at smearing his opponent. One fake story distributed on WhatsApp claimed Haddad supplied schools with erotic baby bottles in public child care centres. Another claimed his running mate, Manuela D'Avila, was an atheist who defiled religious symbols.
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