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Actor Mark Ruffalo withdraws support for Brazilian Presidential hopeful over gay rights

Oct 01 2014
Written by Aaron Day

Hollywood actor Mark Ruffalo has pulled support for Marina Silva, the Brazilian presidential hopeful who recently dropped a “mistaken” pledge to defend same-sex marriage.

56-year-old Socialist Party candidate Marina Silva, who is running to oust President Dilma Rousseff, is tipped to take the victory in October’s Presidential elections.

In August, she altered her manifesto to drop a pledge to “back proposals defending civil marriage” for same-sex couples.

The new version changed the word “marriage” to “unions”, and now pledges to “defend rights relating to civil unions between same-sex couples”.

In a blog post on his Tumblr account, Ruffalo said he could no longer back the Socialist Party candidate.

He said: “I cannot, in good conscience, support a candidate who takes a hard right approach to issues such as gay marriage and reproductive rights, even if that candidate is willing to do the right thing on environmental issues.

“At this time it would be good to know definitively where Candidate Silva stands on these issues and in no uncertain terms. It is a little bit murky and unclear presently.

“Until that time, based on what I have been able to glean from the few posts here, and what is available on the internet, I am withdrawing my endorsement.

“I have fought for marriage equality in my country and see it as a reflection of the quality of a candidate.”

Brazil’s Supreme Court controversially ruled in favour of same-sex marriage last year, but the change has faced strong opposition from evangelical lawmakers, and attempts to codify the change into law have stalled in Congress.

On Sunday, Presidential candidate Levy Fidelix overshadowed a live television debate with an extended homophobic rant, saying gay people “need psychological care” and should be kept “well away.”