The response of the largest newspaper in Brazil to the censorship of a magazine with gay characters

The mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Crivella, had ordered that copies of the comic "Avengers, the crusade of children" be removed from the Book Biennial, as "it brings sexual content for minors," according to the official himself. After generating the opposite effect to that expected (the publication had sales records and there were all kinds of cultural manifestations against the mayor), Justice ruled in favor of the Biennial's freedom to distribute that material, and the newspaper with the largest circulation from Brazil, Folha de São Paulo, showed as the only cover image the characters of the cartoon in full gay kiss.

The kiss of Wiccan and Hulkling, characters from the Marvel comic "Avengers, the crusade of children", was exhibited alongside thousands of other copies at the "Bienal do Livro" in Rio de Janeiro, until Mayor Crivella ordered to seize all copies of that comic because it is considered "inappropriate" for children.

The measure unleashed the most varied manifestations. The hashtag #LeiaComOrgulho (read with pride) invaded Instagram, the comic sold out, and youtuber Felipe Neto gave away 14,000 LGBT-themed books with the stamp "this book is inappropriate for backward, backward and prejudiced people." From the Biennial they affirmed that it is a sample "plural" that gives "voice to all the public, without distinction, as it should be a democracy".

The Justice ruled that the government of Rio de Janeiro should "refrain from confiscating works based on their content, especially those dealing with homotransexuality," and Mayor Crivella (former evangelical bishop) argued that his decision was only intended to "defend the family. That matter must be dealt with in the family, it cannot be induced, whether at school, in the edition of books, wherever it may be ".

The truth is that the Folha do São Paulo newspaper responded by saying: "Crivella tries to censor a gay kiss, but justice forbids it." The great cover image is the kiss of the Wiccan sorcerer and the Hulkling warrior.