From the USA, mayor bans LGBTQIA+ cinema shows in SC and organization cancels event: ‘Censorship and fear’ | Santa Catarina

Mayor prohibits LGBTQIA+ cinema shows in SC and entity cancels event

While on vacation from the United States, Mayor José Thomé released a video in which he said he had banned a diversity event that would take place at the Fundação Cultural de Rio do Sul, in Vale do Itajaí, in Santa Catarina. On social media, it justifies “not to be a matter of prejudice, but of respect for Christian principles, what is written in the Bible, and family principles”.

The organization of Transforma, the Santa Catarina Diversity Film Festival, called the decision a censorship and, with the repercussions of the publication, canceled the film show to ensure the safety of the team involved and the public (see video above).

“The mayor’s hate speech took us to a place we didn’t imagine, which was feeling afraid to carry out actions in the city. A very sad moment,” said one of the organizers, in a video published by Transforma.

O public ministry said that it monitors the occurrences and analyzes the information in a specific procedure.

The II Transforma Itinerant Exhibition was scheduled for March 27th and 28th. On the first day, the organization would hold an LGBT cultural production workshop and, on the second, a session with the films awarded at the festival. All activities would take place in a public building in the municipality.

Upon learning of the activities, however, the mayor contacted the director of the Cultural Foundation, prohibiting them from taking place in the space.

According to the city council, Thomé did not ban the event in the city, nor did he request cancellation, but he determined that it should not take place in the Cultural Foundation building.

In a video recorded from the United States, where he spends his holidays with his current partner, and published on social media, he mentioned that he has two children and, therefore, cannot allow a diversity event with free classification. She also said that “the Public Authorities should not encourage this type of practice”.

The workshop organization called the act illegal and apologized to those who registered. He said that, at first, he chose to cancel the event, but that he is considering filing a lawsuit against the Municipal Executive.

The Public Ministry of Santa Catarina monitors events in Rio do Sul through the 6th District Attorney’s Office, which operates in the area of ​​Citizenship and Fundamental Rights and in the Curatorship of Foundations and the Third Sector. Information about the case will be analyzed in a specific procedure.

The organization of Transforma – Santa Catarina Diversity Film Festival is hereby publicly informing the decision of the Executive Branch of the municipality of Rio do Sul (SC), to prohibit the holding of the II Itinerant Exhibition of the festival that would be held at the Fundação Cultural de Rio do Sul, scheduled to take place between today and tomorrow, March 27th and 28th, 2024.

Unfortunately, once again, we were surprised by an act that we consider illegal, this time, coming directly from the local Executive Branch.

We emphasize that the programming for the II Itinerant Exhibition was meticulously designed to offer an important dialogue about LGBTQIAPN+ film production in our State.

Prepared to take place in two stages, the program would feature an LGBTQIAPN+ cultural production workshop and a session of award-winning films at V Transforma, held in November 2023, in Florianópolis (SC).

Contemplating the most diverse narratives, these films naturally express the diversity of our community, with stories that captivate and reveal what it means to be an LGBTQIAPN+ in Brazil.

We reiterate that in none of these productions are the premises of morality and integrity disrespected. Quite the contrary, they portray with great respect the plurality and experiences of the LGBTQIAPN+ community.

It is also worth highlighting that the II Itinerant Exhibition passed through the cities of Joaçaba, Curitibanos, Laguna and Jaraguá do Sul, captivating audiences for the LGBTQIAPN+ audiovisual and training professionals to access public policies through cultural notices.

Given this scenario that we found ourselves in the city, we decided to temporarily suspend the actions of the II Itinerant Exhibition in Rio do Sul, in order to preserve the safety and physical integrity of the team, as well as the public that would be present.

We deeply regret the suspension of our activities and apologize to the public who were eagerly awaiting the event. We will be returning to Rio do Sul very soon with diversity cinema and lots of training on cultural production.

We are preparing our 6th edition of Transforma, much bigger and full of LGBTQIAPN+ art and culture.

The city of Rio do Sul asked a group of entities not to use the facilities of the municipality’s Cultural Foundation to hold the II Itinerant Exhibition “V Transforma”, scheduled for this Wednesday and Thursday (27th and 28th).

Even on vacation, Mayor José Thomé expressed his opposition to the event’s programming, which consists of a training workshop for LGBTQIAPN+ cultural productions in addition to showing videos on this topic, allowing free access, such as for children and pre-teens.

“We reject this type of event being held in a public space and also having free classification, disseminating support for this type of topic. And we, as the municipal administration, are against this type of production, incentive, and requesting that the public space of the Cultural Foundation not be used, remembering that the event is organized by groups from outside the municipality. And it causes us a lot of discomfort knowing that it is a program that has public sponsorship, such as from the government of the State of Santa Catarina and the Fundação Catarinense de Cultura”, highlighted the mayor.

Produced by BAPHO Cultural in partnership with the Association for the Defense of Human Rights with a Focus on Sexuality (ADEH), this is a project financed by the Catarinense Cinema Award, from the Government of the State of Santa Catarina, via the Catarinense Culture Foundation (FCC) . The event also has the support of the Museum of Image and Sound of Santa Catarina (MIS/SC).