Conservatism, the Strengthening of the Extreme Right and the Sexual and Gender Diversity Agenda in Contemporary Brazil

Abstract

We are living a historical moment characterized by the resurgence of moral and political conservatism and the advance of rightist and extreme rightist ideologies in Brazil. Using a supposed desire for democracy and narratives that appeal to nationalism, the common good and traditional values, those ideologies have penetrated the various political arenas, but it is interesting to note that issues of sexual and gender diversity have been singled out for attack. At the same time, gender and sexual dissidents elaborate their social struggles in a complex and contradictory scenario which tends toward oversimplification and neglects the history of acquired rights. What are the possible strategies of struggle and what tendencies does the advance of conservatism in Brazilian politics bring for the debate on sexual and gender diversity?