Cuban voters back liberalized family code

Yahoo – AFP, September 26, 2022 

Cubans voted to legalize same-sex marriage and adoption as well as surrogate pregnancies in a referendum over the weekend, the communist country's electoral officials said Monday. 

Preliminary results indicate an "irreversible trend," with 66 percent of votes counted so far in favor of the government-backed change, electoral council president Alina Balseiro said on state television. 

"The Family Code has been ratified by the people," she said. 

The updated code represents a major shift in a country where machismo is strong and where the authorities sent LGBTQ people to militarized labor camps in the 1960s and 1970s. 

Official attitudes have since evolved, and the government conducted an intense media campaign in favor of the overhaul, which will replace the country's 1975 Family Code. 

The new code permits surrogate pregnancies, as long as no money changes hands, while boosting the rights of children, the elderly and the disabled. 

It defines marriage as the union between two people, rather than that of a man and a woman. 

According to the National Electoral Council, about 68 percent of Cuba's 8.4 million eligible voters had cast a ballot by 5:00 pm (2100 GMT) Sunday night. 

The law required 50 percent voter approval to be adopted. 

The referendum came amid the country's worst economic crisis in 30 years and some predicted the vote could provide an opportunity to voice opposition to the government, with dissidents calling on citizens to reject the code or to abstain.

Chile congress approves same-sex marriage bill

France24–AFP, 7 December 2021

A demonstrator raises a clenched fist during a protest for abortion rights in
Santiago de Chile in September 2021 Pablo VERA AFP/File 

Valparaíso (Chile) (AFP) – Chile's congress on Tuesday approved a long-awaited bill to legalize same-sex marriage, joining just a handful of countries in majority Catholic Latin America with similar laws. 

The measure has the support of President Sebastian Pinera, who must sign it into law, and will also enable married same-sex couples to adopt children. 

The bill got the green light from the upper house of congress, or senate, Tuesday, and was immediately given the final stamp of approval by the lower Chamber of Deputies with 82 votes to 20. 

There were two abstentions. 

In Latin America, same-sex couples could until now get married only in Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina and in 14 of Mexico's 32 states. 

The country legalized same-sex civil unions in 2015, and has been eagerly awaiting the legalization of gay marriage since then-president Michelle Bachelet sent a bill to Congress in 2017. 

In a surprise move, her conservative successor, Pinera, announced in June he would seek the urgent passage of the bill -- which has the backing of a majority of Chileans -- through Congress. 

The project has been consistently opposed by the most conservative bloc of Chile's ruling right wing, but has nevertheless obtained a majority "yes" vote at every step of the process in an opposition-dominated congress. 

The issue deeply divides the two candidates headed for a presidential run-off on December 19. 

Gabriel Boric, 35, who represents a leftist alliance that includes the Communist Party, supported the bill and voted "yes" in his capacity as lawmaker. 

But 55-year-old, far-right candidate Jose Antonio Kast, who won 28 percent of first-round votes compared to Boric's 26 percent, campaigned against it.

Argentines celebrate approval of landmark abortion law

Yahoo – AFP, Daniel MEROLLA, December 29, 2020 

Argentina's Vice President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (R) opens
the session at the Senate to decide whether to legalize abortion

Pro-choice activists celebrated on the streets on Wednesday as Argentina joined a handful of South American nations to legalize abortion, a landmark decision in a country where the Catholic Church has long held sway. 

Senate president Cristina Kirchner confirmed the vote after more than twelve hours of debate that began Tuesday, sparking scenes of jubilation in the capital Buenos Aires. 

"Safe, legal and free abortion is law ... Now we're a better society that is increasing women's rights and safeguarding public health," President Alberto Fernandez, who sponsored the original bill, wrote on Twitter. 

Hundreds of thousands of illegal terminations are carried out every year in Argentina with at least 3,000 women dying after backstreet abortions since the 1980s, said Fernandez, who is Catholic. 

Before the vote he said the law was necessary "to legislate for everyone." 

"After so many attempts and years of struggle that cost us blood and lives, today we finally made history," protester Sandra Lujan, a 41-year-old psychologist, said after the vote in the pre-dawn hours of Wednesday. 

"Today we leave a better place for our sons and daughters." 

The bill in the country of 44 million succeeded despite strong opposition from Evangelical Christians and traditional Roman Catholics -- with Pope Francis tweeting his tacit disapproval of change ahead of the vote. 

Human Rights Watch Americas Director Jose Miguel Vivanco hailed the decision as historic, and hoped it would energize other governments in the region to follow in the footsteps of one of Latin America's largest nations. 

"The criminalization of abortion has failed. It's time to end it," he tweeted. 

The new legislation will allow voluntary terminations up to 14 weeks of pregnancy, and was approved 38 to 29 with one abstention. 

The vote overturns a similar one in 2018 which -- although also passed the lower house -- ultimately foundered in the Senate by 38 votes to 31. 

Only Uruguay, Cuba and Guyana allow voluntary terminations in South America, which has some of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world. 

In El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua, it is banned, and women can be sentenced to jail even for having a miscarriage. 

In Argentina, terminations were previously allowed in only two instances: rape, and danger to the mother's life. 

Thousands of pro-choice activists celebrated the vote on the streets
of capital Buenos Aires

'Gift of life' 

The bill passed the Chamber of Deputies on December 11. 

Francis, who is Argentine, has not commented directly on the vote but many felt he indirectly addressed the issue in a speech on Wednesday morning.

 "Christians, as all believers, bless God for the gift of life. To live is above all to have received," he said in his last speech before the New Year. 

"All of us are born because someone wanted us to have life." 

More than 60 percent of Argentines call themselves Catholic, according to a 2019 survey by the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (Conicet). 

Another Conicet survey this year found more than half of Argentina's Catholics supported abortion only in limited circumstances -- with around 22 percent supporting it, and roughly 17 percent rejecting it in all cases. 

"The interruption of a pregnancy is a tragedy. It abruptly ends another developing life," said Ines Blas, a senator from the ruling coalition. 

However, Senator Silvina Garcia Larraburu, from the same coalition, had said she would vote for the bill this time despite being against it in 2018. 

'Centuries of regression' 

Despite measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, thousands of pro-choice and anti-abortion demonstrators had gathered outside parliament ahead of the vote, following the debate on giant screens. 

Pro-choice activists have campaigned for years to change the abortion laws that date from 1921, adopting a green scarf as their symbol. 

Anti-abortion activists, who recently started wearing light blue scarves, expressed sadness after the vote passed. 

The alliance of evangelical churches issued a statement calling it "a sad day." 

"Today Argentina regressed centuries in terms of civilization and respect for the supreme right to life," said the alliance. 

Social law changes have always been slow in Argentina: divorce was legalized only in 1987, sex education introduced in 2006, gay marriage approved in 2010 and a gender identity law passed in 2012.

Bishop who defended indigenous people dies in Brazil aged 92

Yahoo – AFP, August 8, 2020

Spanish bishop Pedro Casaldaliga, shown here speaking to actor Eduard
Fernandes in an undated photo released by Minoria Absoluta Productions,
has died aged 92 in Brazil

The Spanish bishop Pedro Casaldaliga, a fervent defender of the indigenous people of the Amazon, died Saturday at the age of 92 in Brazil, where he had been living since 1968, his office said.

The Prelature of Sao Felix do Araguaia, in the central-western state of Mato Grosso, where Casaldaliga was bishop emeritus, announced in a statement that he passed away in the morning at hospital in Batatais, near Sao Paulo.

He had been in intensive care due to respiratory problems and was suffering from Parkinson's disease.

"Our land, our people are losing today an example of generous living for a better world; we will miss him very much," former left-wing President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva tweeted.

Born in 1928 in Balsareny, Catalonia, and ordained a priest in 1952, he went on mission to Sao Felix do Araguaia, in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon, in 1968, while the country was under a military dictatorship.

He opposed the regime, the wealthy landowning class, and even the Vatican, defending the landless peasants and the indigenous people.

"In this land, it is easy to be born and die, but difficult to live," the prelate told AFP in 2012, as a TV series about his life was released -- "Barefoot on Red Soil," from the book of the same name by Catalan writer Francesc Escribano.

Living under the constant threat of hired killers in the pay of large landowners, he was one of the founders of the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT) and the Indigenous Missionary Council (CIMI), two key bodies in the struggle for agrarian reform.

In 1998 Bishop Casaldaliga was called to Rome, where he underwent a tough interrogation by the then Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who seven years later became Pope Benedict XVI.

At the end of last month, he and 150 other Brazilian bishops signed an open letter criticizing the extreme right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro, castigating his "incompetence" and his "inability" to manage the coronavirus health crisis, which has caused nearly 100,000 deaths in Brazil -- including several hundred indigenous people.

Costa Rica legalises same-sex marriage in first for Central America

Yahoo – AFP, Marco SIBAJA, May 26, 2020

Costa Rica is the first Central American country to legalise same-sex marriage
(AFP Photo/Ezequiel BECERRA)

San José (AFP) - Costa Rica legalised same-sex marriage on Tuesday, becoming the first Central American country to do so and sparking an emotional response from rights campaigners as the first weddings were held overnight.

Celebrations were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic, but a special program about LGBT rights was broadcast on public television and online after a court ruling came into force at midnight.

"This change will bring about a significant social and cultural transformation, allowing thousands of people to marry," said President Carlos Alvarado in the program.

Costa Rica is the eighth country in the Americas to recognise same-sex marriage -- a group that includes Brazil, Ecuador and Argentina, as well as Canada and the US.

The Supreme Court in August 2018 ruled that a ban on gay marriage was unconstitutional and gave parliament 18 months to amend the laws. It failed to do that, so the provision was automatically annulled.

"Costa Rica is celebrating today: marriage equality has become a reality in the country -- the first one in Central America," tweeted the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (ILGA)..

"We rejoice with you: congratulations to all those who worked so hard to make it happen!"

Gay rights activists have long campaigned for the right to
marry in Costa Rica (AFP Photo/Ezequiel BECERRA)

Victor Madrigal-Borloz, the UN's Independent Expert on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, called the change "an extraordinary moment of celebration" in a tweet posted on Monday.

Strong Catholic tradition

He expressed "gratitude to the work of so many activists, and of quiet reflection of the lives of those who lived without seeing this moment".

Moments after midnight, Dunia Araya and Alexandra Quiros tied the knot in a town northwest of the capital, San Jose. The young women, both dressed in white, took their vows before a notary wearing a face mask as part of measures to stop the spread of coronavirus.

Costa Rica has a strong Catholic tradition and has also seen a proliferation of evangelical churches in recent decades. Many followers of those denominations are opposed to gay marriage.

Alvarado, a centrist, was elected to the presidency in April 2018 by comfortably seeing off a challenge from evangelical preacher Fabricio Alvarado, who campaigned against same-sex marriage.

The Supreme Court decision complied with an opinion given by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, declaring that homosexual couples have the same rights to marry as heterosexual ones.

In Peru, 'they teach you to be ashamed,' indigenous trans candidate says

Yahoo – AFP, Carlos MANDUJANO, January 26, 2020

Gahela Cari hopes to become the first indigenous transgender person
elected to the Peruvian Congress (AFP Photo/Ernesto BENAVIDES)

Lima (AFP) - The first indigenous transgender candidate to run for parliament in Peru says it's time to end the culture of machismo in the South American country.

"I suffered, in my own flesh, the consequences of inequality, discrimination, violence and corruption," Gahela Cari, 27, said in an interview with AFP before Sunday's nationwide parliamentary ballot.

"We have to stop educating future macho men," she said during a break from campaigning.

Her candidacy comes as awareness of transgender people and their rights is growing in many countries.

"I'm an animal-rights advocate, an ecologist and a student leader," Cari told AFP. "I come from that part of the left that has always fought."

Cari, who has promised to support the anticorruption reforms of President Martin Vizcarra, is running as a candidate of the leftist Together for Peru party, which seeks to end the political crisis that led Vizcarra to dissolve Congress on September 30.

Small, thin and calm in demeanor, she sported an Andean hat over braided hair during her interview, with bright red lipstick and, tied to her left wrist, the green scarf that symbolizes support for legalized abortion.

What motivated you to run for Congress?

CARI: "We want trans people to have more opportunities. We don't enjoy the same conditions as the rest of the population. It's no coincidence that our life expectancy is less than 32 years. Here the state doesn't guarantee our rights."

Cari, who supports the anticorruption reforms of President Martin Vizcarra, is 

running for office amid growing awareness of transgender people and their rights 

globally (AFP Photo/Ernesto BENAVIDES)

"(Congress) has been more concerned with defending the corrupt. I'm tired of traditional politics. That's why I entered politics, to put Congress at the service of the citizenry."

How do you present yourself to voters?

CARI: "I introduce myself as a trans, indigenous, migrant woman. I was born in the south of the country. My mother is from Ayacucho and my father is from Puno. In this country we receive an education that aims to repress who we are, to repress our sexual identity and to repress our cultural identity. They force us to be ashamed of our roots."

"In a country that teaches you to be ashamed, a country that educates in order to repress you, to describe yourself as an indigenous trans person is already revolutionary. It is using your body to fight; fighting without even uttering a word."

What is the main point in your platform?

CARI: "We want to finish (Vizcarra's) political reform, to complete the reform of the justice system and to launch an economic reform that guarantees the voices of the citizenry and of vulnerable populations."

"We do not want the situation facing women and LGBTQ people to continue, which is why we are proposing a reform to put the fight against gender-based violence and all forms of discrimination on the table."

"We need to stop raising future macho men, future homophobes, future transphobes and woman killers. We need education with respect. I have suffered transphobic bullying in school."

"We're fighting to decriminalize abortion in all cases because we don't believe that a democratic state can continue to condemn a woman to be a mother against her will."

Facts about Peru (AFP Photo/Gustavo IZUS, Nicolas RAMALLO)

Is it true that you practiced prostitution?

CARI: "I had to be involved in prostitution though I didn't want to. It was for a short time... but it was the most complicated stage of my life."

"It was when I was about to finish university. I had gone five days without eating and my stomach was empty. It was a matter of necessity. I got out of it thanks to a network of contacts and thanks to feminists who saved my life."

Were you also a catechist?

CARI: "I was a catechist. I am a believer, I believe in a loving God. I believe that no religion can serve to justify hate."

If you studied law, why aren't you practicing as a lawyer?

CARI: "After finishing my university studies, those in charge refused to let me join the professional association. Without that membership, you can't work, though I tried hard. That depressed me for a while."

Is it difficult to campaign in a country with a tradition of machismo? 

CARI: "We have had to face situations of discrimination throughout the campaign. We have been threatened and have suffered situations of harassment and physical violence."

Chile's president condemns police violence after four weeks of unrest

Yahoo – AFP, November 18, 2019

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera addresses the nation in Santiago (AFP
Photo/CLAUDIO REYES)

Santiago (AFP) - President Sebastian Pinera condemned on Sunday for the first time what he called abuses committed by police in dealing with four weeks of violent unrest that have rocked Chile.

"There was excessive use of force. Abuses and crimes were committed, and the rights of all were not respected," the president said in a speech to the nation as it marked a month of turmoil that has left 22 people dead and more than 2,000 injured.

Furious Chileans have been protesting social and economic inequality, and against an entrenched political elite that comes from a small number of the wealthiest families in the country, among other issues.

Accusations of police brutality and human rights violations have been levelled since the protests broke out, prompting the United Nations to send a team to investigate. Amnesty International has also sent a mission.

"There will be no impunity, not for those who committed acts of unusual violence, nor for those who committed excesses and abuses. We will do what is best for the victims," he said, referring to protesters first and then the security forces.

Pinera also praised an agreement reached last week under which Chile will draft a new constitution to replace the current one that dates back to the rightwing dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who ruled from 1973 to 1990.

Many in Chile see this step -- getting rid of a charter that smacks of a dark, repressive chapter in the country's past -- as a way to help end the crisis. It is a key demand of the thousands of protesters that have been taking to the streets in Santiago and elsewhere almost daily for a month.

The spasm of anger began with a rise in metro fares but quickly swelled into a broader outcry against the status quo in what is traditionally considered one of South America's most stable countries.

"If the people want it, we will move toward a new constitution, the first under democracy," Pinera said in a speech from the presidential palace.

Chile to amend constitution, a key demand of protesters

Yahoo – AFP, November 11, 2019

The Chilean government is in the process of preparing "a draft amendment of the
constitution," President Sebastian Pinera has said (AFP Photo/MARTIN BERNETTI)

Santiago (AFP) - Chile has announced it will move to draft a new constitution and replace one dating back to the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship -- a key demand of protesters who have rocked the country for three weeks.

The new constitution will be drafted by a body called a constituent assembly and then put to a referendum for ratification, Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel said Sunday.

Blumel made the announcement after meeting with a coalition of center-right and right-wing parties, which had been reluctant to change the constitution inherited from the era of the US-backed general Pinochet (1973-1990).

The government was in the process of preparing "a draft amendment of the constitution," President Sebastian Pinera said in an interview published Saturday by the daily El Mercurio.

Chile's President Sebastian Pinera says "a better definition of human rights" is 

among proposed changes to the constitution (AFP Photo/JAVIER TORRES)

Among the proposed changes are "a better definition of human rights" and their means of enforcement, plus clarification on "the obligations of the state" and "better mechanisms of participation" for citizens, added the president.

The current constitution, in force since 1980, has already undergone more than 200 changes in more than 40 articles, Pinera said.

But it does not establish the state's responsibility to provide education and healthcare -- two demands made by millions of Chileans who have taken to the streets.

Some opposition leaders reacted optimistically.

"The government is beginning to have a sense of reality," said Felipe Harboe of the opposition Party for Democracy.

Protests in Chile have left 20 dead - five at the hands of state forces -
and more than 1,000 injured (AFP Photo/Dante ROSSI)

A general public- sector strike began on Monday. Dozens of people protested before the presidential palace in Santiago and protests snarled traffic elsewhere in the capital.

The crisis is Chile's biggest since its return to democracy in 1990, leaving 20 dead -- five at the hands of state forces -- and more than 1,000 injured.

The unrest that began on October 18 with protests against a rise in rush-hour metro fares has mushroomed into a broader outcry against the status quo, with burning, looting and daily confrontations between demonstrators and police.

Protesters cite low wages, high costs for education and healthcare and a yawning gap between rich and poor in a country dominated politically and economically by a few elite families.

The unrest in Chile began on October 18 with protests against a rise in rush 

hour metro fares (AFP Photo/RODRIGO ARANGUA)

After weeks of sometimes violent demonstrations, most polls show the protest movement is supported by 75 percent of Chileans.

A slightly larger number -- 87 percent, according to a survey by pollster Cadem published this month -- say they favor the protesters' demand for constitutional reforms.

A few days after Pinera became president in March 2018, his government announced it would not allow the consideration of a bill to amend the constitution that the previous president, the socialist Michelle Bachelet (2014-2018), had submitted to congress.

Chile said it will hold a referendum to replace the country's dictatorship-era constitution -- a key demand of protesters after nearly a month of violent civil unrest https://t.co/aTZcJH5Lfm

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 16 november 2019

Chileans go on strike as protest death toll hits 18

Yahoo – AFP, Miguel SANCHEZ, October 23, 2019

Riot police use water cannons on demonstrators in Santiago, on the sixth straight
day of street violence in Chile, which has left at least 18 people dead (AFP Photo/
Javier TORRES)

Santiago (AFP) - Thousands of Chileans flooded the streets of Santiago and other cities Wednesday on day one of a general strike, upping the pressure on President Sebastien Pinera after days of social unrest that have left at least 18 dead.

Students, professors and state workers walked off the job at the urging of the country's largest union, ignoring a package of measures announced by Pinera aimed at quelling the violence.

"THE STRIKE IS ON! We say it loud and clear: enough of the increases and abuses," said the Workers' United Center of Chile (CUT), which organized the two-day action with about 20 other groups.

In the capital Santiago, police used water cannons to dispel protesters.

"Chile has awakened," read the sign of one protester.

The country, usually one of the most stable in Latin America, has experienced its worst violence in decades since protests against a now-scrapped hike in metro fares escalated dramatically on Friday.

Demonstrators have decried social and economic woes, including a yawning gap between rich and poor.

A demonstrator in Santiago holds a sign reading 'Chile has awakened' (AFP Photo/

Martin BERNETTI)

A four-year-child and a man were killed in the latest protests when a drunk driver rammed into a crowd of demonstrators, Interior Undersecretary Rodrigo Ubilla said.

A third person died after being beaten by police, according to the victim's family.

In an address to the nation late Tuesday, Pinera apologized for failing to anticipate the outbreak of social unrest.

"I recognize this lack of vision," Pinera said after a meeting with some of Chile's opposition leaders.

Beyond the dead, another 269 people have been injured and about 1,900 have been arrested, according to the National Institute for Human Rights (INDH).

Pinera's proposals

Having initially taken a confrontational line -- declaring that Chile was "at war against a powerful, implacable enemy," and imposing a state of emergency in Santiago and most of Chile's 16 regions -- Pinera has rapidly changed tack and sought cross-party support to find a solution.

He says he will increase the universal basic pension by 20 percent, cancel a recent 9.2 percent increase in electricity bills and propose a law that would see the state cover the costs of expensive medical treatment.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera apologized in an address to the nation for 

failing to anticipate the outbreak of social unrest (AFP Photo/HO)

He also pledged a state subsidy to increase the minimum wage from 301,000 to 350,000 pesos ($482) a month and said the government would introduce health insurance for medication, which is among the most expensive in the region.

Chileans were unconvinced by the promises.

"I don't think that what Pinera said is all that useful," said 38-year-old Karla Araneda, who works near the seat of government.

"Today, even more people are going to be in the streets and the problems are going to continue."

After widespread scenes of violence, destruction, arson and looting last week, protests have become more peaceful this week, particularly in Santiago.

But it's the worst violence to hit Chile since the country returned to democracy after the 1973-1990 right-wing dictatorship led by General Augusto Pinochet.

Some 20,000 police and troops have been deployed while a nighttime curfew was announced on each of the last four days.

After widespread scenes of violence, destruction, arson and looting last week, 

protests have become more peaceful this week, particularly in Santiago (AFP Photo/

Martin BERNETTI )

Strike organizers issued a statement demanding that the government end the state of emergency and send troops back to their barracks.

The country's powerful copper mine workers' unions have joined the strike movement.

Chile is the largest producer of copper in the world, much of which is sold to China.

But despite 2.5 percent growth, ordinary Chileans are deeply unhappy about low salaries and pensions, as well as health and education systems that are unaffordable for most.

"Pinera has always been a liar and now... he is asking for forgiveness," said 23-year-old Carlos Morales.

Another resident, Ximena Gutierrez, told AFP: "We will not be silent."

Before Pinera's announcement, one of Chile's largest conglomerates, Quinenco, promised to increase its minimum salaries to 500,000 pesos a month from January 1 -- 60 percent more than the current minimum wage.

Map of Latin America showing countries where major protests 

have occurred in recent months (AFP Photo)

Chile's big business conglomerates are one of the major factors in the huge wealth disparity that has angered protesters.

Nine dead in fires

The strike will put Santiago to the test. Life in the capital has been returning to normal, with three of seven metro lines due to be open Wednesday and buses back on the road.

More than half of Santiago's 136 metro stations suffered heavy damage during last week's protests and remained guarded by soldiers.

Shops and businesses -- even banks -- appeared to be reopening, but some Santiago-area schools were still closed.

Battle over Marvel comic gay kiss is defused by Brazil court

Yahoo – AFP, September 9, 2019

Organizers of the Rio book fair appealed to the supreme court amid
worries about censorship and discrimination (AFP Photo/HO)

Rio de Janeiro (AFP) - Brazil's Supreme Court on Sunday made it illegal to ban any LGBT publication, after a lower court allowed conservative mayor to confiscate comic books at the Rio Book Fair containing content he considered "inappropriate" for minors.

Mayor Marcelo Crivella, an Evangelical Protestant, ordered the comic book removed from sale because of its "sexual content for minors" on Saturday.

Crivella -- a former bishop in the giant Universal Church of the Kingdom of God -- was elected Rio's mayor in 2016, promising to bring law and order to a city beset by crime.

The comic that sparked the mayor's ire showed the Marvel superhero characters Wiccan and Hulkling exchanging a kiss, fully dressed.

But the federal top court agreed with prosecutor Dias Toffoli and ruled that Crivella's actions were illegal because they targeted only LGBT content, violating the constitutional guarantee of equality for all.

And Crivella's move backfired as copies of "Young Avengers: the Children's Crusade" quickly sold out after he demanded it be withdrawn from the book fair, organizers told AFP.

Popular Brazilian YouTuber Felipe Neto, who has more than 34 million subscribers to his channel, also bought 14,000 books on LGBT themes and distributed them free at the fair in protest.

The image of the Marvel comic kiss was also on display Saturday at news kiosks across the country, printed on the cover of the Folha de S. Paulo, Brazil's largest national newspaper.

Publishers and writers accuse the mayor of wanting to censor content.

Constitutional law specialist Michael Mohallem, of the Getulio Vargas Foundation, had previously said that the mayor's actions, and the court decision permitting them, would violate free speech and discriminate based on sexual orientation.

"Since the decision seems to be specifically aimed at prohibiting the circulation of magazines that show gay kisses (rather than any other), my interpretation is that it is motivated by discrimination, both by the mayor and the judge," Mohallem said.

Brazil's Supreme Court in June voted to criminalize homophobia, classifying it as a crime similar to racism.

It was an important step for sexual minorities in one of the most dangerous countries for LGBT people in the world, but was criticized by far-right President Jair Bolsonaro, who has a history of homophobic remarks.

Brazil had already legalized same-sex marriage.