PUBLIC POLICY COUNCILS AND DEMOCRATIZATION IN BRAZIL: Social participation and the fight against LGBTphobia

Abstract

This article presents part of a doctoral research in Psychology and analyzes the importance of participation in the process of democratization of Brazilian society after 1988 and the emergence of the National Council for Combating Discrimination and Promotion of the Rights of Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals, Transvestites and Transsexuals ( CNCD/LGBT) in 2001. In view of the serious and historic violations against the LGBTQIA+ population in Brazil, the CNCD/LGBT will constitute an important achievement and recognition of the LGBT population as subjects of rights and in the fight against LGBTphobia. As a public policy council, the CNCD/LGBT was constituted through great mobilization and popular participation. We carried out theoretical and documental research and analyzed the context of the emergence of public policy councils in Brazil marked by disputes between socialist and liberal perspectives. We conclude that the period of existence of this council (2001 to 2019) was fundamental for the public recognition of the rights of the LGBTQIA+ population, even though it has been a history marked by various disputes and contradictions. The historical-social process addressed here evidences, through the study of the creation of the National LGBT Council, the first achievements of guaranteeing rights for the Brazilian LGBTQIA+ population and its mishaps, indicating the importance of social participation in the continuity of the struggles against the anti-gender “crusades” promoted by conservative forces.