Forty percent of people in São Paulo have suffered LGBT prejudice or witnessed discrimination against the LGBT population in the city's public spaces, according to a new study produced by the NGO Rede Nossa São Paulo in partnership with the Institute Ibope.
The study, "Living in São Paulo - Rights LGBTQI +," showed that the LGBT population (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transvestite, transsexual and transgender) is more vulnerable in the streets, in the squares, in the trains, and the buses because these places provide "encounters between differences", said sociologist Américo Sampaio, coordinator of Our São Paulo.
"The numbers are serious: two-thirds of the population of São Paulo do not know how to live with people who are different from them," he said.
Schools, colleges, shopping malls, bars, and restaurants - all with a large circulation of people - were recurring locations for cases of prejudice.
According to the research, black or brown women of medium schooling with a monthly income of up to two minimum wages and residents of the eastern zone perceive the most prejudice. When it comes to white men, the city is more indifferent to LGBTs.
The eastern zone is the most populous region of the city and therefore gains more relevance in the interview sample made for the survey, Sampaio explained.
According to Thiago Amparo, a diversity policy professor at the Getúlio Vargas Foundation and Folha columnist, those most affected by prejudice are already on the margins of society. "They are people who live on the periphery and travel long distances to work. An LGBT in these conditions suffers even more, "he said.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon