The moment calls for calm

Brazil recorded 257 violent deaths of LGBT+ people in 2025, one every 34 hours, according to Grupo Gay da Bahia. The Northeast is the deadliest region, with 66 cases. And the figure is underreported, because the survey is based on news reports^[1].

That is why the fear of Bolsonarism is real and no exaggeration. Calling for calm does not mean asking for silence, or asking victims to lower their voices. It means asking us to check the facts before acting.

In recent days, anonymous messages began accusing the owners of a bar in João Pessoa of being Bolsonaro supporters and calling for a boycott. According to its regulars, it is an almost always safe space, with an important role in the city’s alternative and cultural scene.

The accusations came unsigned and without evidence. Consumers have a right to boycott, but the decision should rest on facts, not rumors.

Someone saw a Bible at the till and decided never to return. But a Bible does not tell you who someone votes for, much less that they hate anyone. Assuming prejudice because of faith means doing to others what we refuse to accept ourselves: judging by appearances.

There are evangelical Christians who vote for Lula, LGBT evangelical Christians, and religious owners who welcome everyone. Using “believer” as an insult pushes away precisely the people we need close to us on the 25th.

“I know the owner” is not evidence either: it is hearsay. An accusation without a name or a fact carries no more weight because it spread quickly.

Pink money is the financial power of LGBTQIAP+ people. The criticism targets brands that address this audience only on specific dates, which “ends up sounding like opportunism”^[2]. In other words, flying the flag in June without hiring from or investing in the community^[3].

A bar that welcomes, supports and gives LGBT people a stage every night is not that. Stretching the concept weakens it, as when anyone becomes a “fascist”: the word loses its weight for when it is needed, and someone who could have been an ally moves to the right.

Curiously, amid the controversy, another bar in the city posted: “An LGBTQIAPN+ bar supports its community! It’s 13 for our existence.” A competitor that knows the audience and the mood of the moment, and positions itself to win them over. That can indeed be read as pink money: raising the flag when it brings in customers.

The philosopher Byung-Chul Han calls our age the transparency society: everything must be exposed, and maximum exposure becomes a kind of pornography, without mystery or distance^[4]. Those who do not show themselves become suspect.

That logic demands an explicit statement from every person and every bar: “I support Lula” or “I oppose Flávio”. Silence becomes proof of guilt. It is a symptom of social media exhaustion and excessive social contact, not a measure of anyone’s vote.

If the bar closes, LGBT people lose a safe space, and its workers lose too. In 1870, Marx wrote that the antagonism between English and Irish workers was “artificially kept alive and intensified” and was “the secret of the impotence” of the English working class^[5].

There is one working class, and talking works better than exclusion. In Miami, nonjudgmental conversations lasting 10 to 20 minutes reduced prejudice against trans people, and the effect was still there three months later^[6]. The moment calls for calm. Voting is on the 25th.