A group of congress members and evangelical leaders, including the SP Council's President, Eduardo Tuma, filed a lawsuit against Netflix on Thursday, calling for censorship of the Porta dos Fundos "Christmas Special." The special portrays Jesus as gay.
Along with the National Council of the Shepherds Councils of Brazil and Bishop Robson Rodovalho, founder of the evangelical community Sara Nossa Terra, Tuma is also claiming collective moral damages of R$ 1 million.
The lawsuit, not yet considered by the court, also requires individual damages worth "not less than R$ 1,000" to all Christians who feel harmed and who qualify to claim this value.
According to the lawyer who filed the lawsuit, Ricardo Hasson Sayeg, the intention is to mobilize the evangelical community so that several people turn to the court for the right to compensation.
Sayeg also says that the representation does not consider that the request to take down the program configures censorship. "We understand that [the program] went beyond the right of artistic expression," he says.
The petition says that the content of the program is "offending the image of God, Jesus Christ, his holy Mother Mary, and all the other biblical protagonists involved."
It is an interpretation. The special portrays Jesus as a hero. He faces Lucifer and emerges victorious from the battle after going through a lysergic experience in which gods of various religions appear to influence him.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon