President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva met at the White House on Friday and issued a joint statement reiterating their support for LGBTQ and intersex rights. In the statement, the leaders noted their rejection of extremism and violence in politics, condemned hate speech, and reaffirmed their intention to build societal resilience against disinformation. They discussed common objectives of advancing the human rights agenda, including social inclusion and labor rights, gender equality, racial equity, and the protection of the rights of LGBTQI+ persons.
The two leaders also committed to reinvigorating the U.S.-Brazil Joint Action Plan to Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Promote Equality, aimed at benefiting marginalized racial, ethnic, and indigenous communities, including people of African descent in both countries. This meeting took place roughly a month after thousands of supporters of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro stormed their country’s Congress, Supreme Court, and presidential palace.
Bolsonaro, who faced sharp criticism over his rhetoric against LGBTQ and intersex Brazilians and other marginalized groups, was defeated by Da Silva in the second round of Brazil’s presidential election last October. Da Silva, a member of the leftist Workers’ Party, has been a strong advocate for LGBTQ rights, launching the Health Ministry’s “Brazil without Homophobia” campaign and creating the Culture Ministry’s Diversity Secretariat that worked to make Brazilian law enforcement more LGBTQ-friendly.
