May 26, 2022

07:05

Iury Lima – Cenarium Magazine

VILHENA (RO) – For the first time, the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) mapped the population outside the ‘heteronormative standard’ in the national territory. Despite all the diversity of the acronym LGBTQIA+, the questionnaire answered mostly by people between 18 and 29 years old, gave as specific options only two sexual orientations, besides heterosexual: homosexuality and bisexuality. The result pointed out that, of all Brazilian states, Rondônia is the one with the most self-declared gay or bisexual people.

The survey was conducted in 2019, through home visits. Even with this ‘advance’, the institute itself recognizes that the data may be outdated, precisely because there is still a lot of prejudice in Brazil.

“I believe that for the country to move forward in combating LGBTphobia, transphobia, and homophobia, it takes knowledge, because the situation is only the way it is because of the naturalization of prejudice,” evaluated the filmmaker and expert in Gender and Diversity at School, Allyne da Silva Teixeira, in an interview to CENARIUM MAGAZINE. 

The survey

In Rondônia, 91.2% of the citizens, that is, something around 9 in every 10, out of almost 2 million inhabitants, consider themselves heterosexual, therefore, at least 24 thousand people from Rondônia are part of the LGBTQIA+ group, the highest proportion in relation to other states. 

As for the Brazilian capitals, Porto Velho presented 374 thousand answers. Among them, 8 thousand were gay, lesbian or bisexual people. Part of those interviewed said they didn’t know their sexual orientation, and another part abstained from the survey. 

In the whole country, almost 3 million men and women answered that they are openly gay or bi.

Educational (and acquisitive) barriers

Another interesting indicator is linked to the income and educational level of the population: the higher the salary and education, the higher the self-declaration as LGBTQIA+ person. “In the group of people with higher education, 3.2% declared themselves homosexual or bisexual, a significantly higher percentage than those with no education or incomplete elementary school level (0.5%),” the study pointed out.

The coordinator of the IBGE survey, Maria Lucia Vieira, notes that this indicator “suggests that people with more education and income level have fewer barriers to declare their sexual orientation or even greater understanding of the terms used”. “The proportion who said they did not know or refused to answer was higher among those with lower levels of education and income,” the coordinator added.

Thus, the number of people who did not want to answer was greater than the total of those who declared themselves to be homosexual and bisexual: 3.6 million.

What is the purpose of the survey?

Vieira points out that the study aims not only to identify the sexual orientation of the Brazilian population, but also to better understand the profile and behavior of these people, crossing fundamental information to any part of the citizens, in order to promote equality. 

“This question was inserted in the National Health Survey (PNS), collected in 2019, with the resident himself. This allows us to evaluate not only the total number of people who identified themselves as homosexual or bisexual, but also to conduct studies relating sexual orientation to their work, health and violence characteristics,” pondered the research coordinator.

“These results represent an important first step towards giving statistical visibility to this population nationwide,” concluded the specialist.

The way forward

On the other hand, the country still needs to advance in respect and public policies, since it is one of the first in the world in LGBTphobia and, for 13 years, the country that kills the most transgender and transvestite people on the planet, according to data from Transgender Europe, an organization that monitors globally LGBTQIA+ population data.

“To combat this, we need effective laws against homophobia, as well as knowledge and awareness in schools through debate. This is the only way, through information, that we will promote sensitivity and awareness,” said, finally, the specialist in Gender and Diversity, Allyne Teixeira.