Bolsonaro says governor came out as gay to promote his candidacy for president

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said Friday that a Brazilian governor who declared himself openly gay in a television interview is using that announcement to promote his candidacy for next year’s presidential elections.

Eduardo Leite, governor of the state of Rio Grande do Sul and presidential pre-candidate for the Brazilian Social Democracy Party (PSDB), decided to come out of the closet on “Converse com Bial”, a famous talk show aired weekly in the early hours of Friday morning on Rede Globo.

The news has caused a stir in the Brazilian political sphere since the regional president is registered in the PSDB presidential primaries and presents himself as a center option in elections that show polarization between rightwing Bolsonaro and leftwing former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

“That guy believes he is the last word” (…) “It’s the calling card for his candidacy,” Bolsonaro told his supporters at the Alvorada Palace, the official residence, referring to the Governor Leite, the first presidential hopeful in Brazil’s history to assume his homosexuality publicly.

“No one has anything against anyone’s private life. Now, wanting to impose his custom, his behavior on others, no!” added the ultra-right leader, who in the past has been criticized for homophobic and misogynist comments.

Leite is an important regional leader of the PSDB, the party of former President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (1995-2002) and which has important electoral strength in several of Brazil’s most populous states such as São Paulo, Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, and Rio Grande do Sul.

Read also: Governor of Brazilian Rio Grande do Sul state comes out: “I am a governor who is gay”

The PSDB candidacy is the subject of fierce internal disputes, which will have to be settled in primary elections called for November and disputed by up to four candidates, among which Leite appears.

Although the PSDB’s main contender is João Doria, governor of São Paulo – Brazil’s richest and most populous state, with 46 million inhabitants – the regional leader does not have unanimous support.

Bolsonaro, whose popularity is at its worst level ever, with a 50% disapproval rate, aspires to reelection. Lula, who would be his main rival, leads the polls with 49% of voter preference, more than double that of the Bolsonaro, with only 23%.