‘Proud homophobe’ Jair Bolsonaro apologises after telling journalist he has the ‘face of a homosexual’
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro (Photo: Madoka Ikegami-Pool via Getty Images)
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro has apologised for targeting a reporter with an anti-gay outburst.
The far-right Brazilian leader, who is a self-proclaimed “proud homophobe”, had lashed out at a press conference on Friday when asked about allegations of corruption levelled against his son.
Responding to the journalist who asked the question, Bolsonaro said: “You have the terrible face of a homosexual, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to accuse you of being a homosexual… though that’s not a crime.”
Brazil President says he ‘made a mistake’ targeting reporter
The leader has since apologised for the comment, Brazil’s G1 reports.
He conceded on Saturday: “I was wrong. I shouldn’t have said it.”
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro attends the Navy Day celebrations at the Marines Corp headquarters in Brasilia, on December 13, 2019. (Photo: Andre Borges/NurPhoto via Getty)
Asked by reporters if he regretted his remarks, he said: “To whom did I say was terribly homosexual… is he not here today? Send him a kiss from me!
“It’s just like football: up front, from time to time, you send your colleague to the [torture chamber], and then go out for a drink with him afterwards.
“Yes, I make a mistake. I should not have spoken.”
‘Proud homophobe’ Jair Bolsonaro has a long record of anti-LGBT remarks.
It is far from the first homophobic outbust from Bolsonaro.
The politician told Playboy in 2011 that he would rather his son die than be gay, saying: “I would be incapable of loving a gay son. I prefer that he die in an accident.”
During his 2018 presidential campaign, Bolsonaro said that he stood by his claim that he would punch gay people if he saw them kissing in public.
Standing by the comments, the candidate compared gay kisses to “a paedophile’s right to have sex with a 2-year-old”.
Bolsonaro has also claimed that gay people try to convert children “to satisfy their sexuality in the future.”
He has claimed: “I make a connection between homosexuality and paedophilia because many of the children who will be adopted by ‘gay’ couples will be abused by these homosexual couples.”
In April 2019, the President declared that Brazil must not become a “gay tourism paradise.”
He said: “If you want to come here and have sex with a woman, go for your life.
“But we can’t let this place become known as a gay tourism paradise. Brazil can’t be a country of the gay world, of gay tourism. We have families.”
In March 2019, Bolsonaro bizarrely tweeted a video of a man urinating on another man’s head at a carnival street party in Brazil. “Golden Shower President” trended on Twitter in Brazil after the outburst.
