Photo: Fábio Rodrigues Pozzebom/Agência Brasil, Wikimedia Commons
Brazilian soccer club Atlético Mineiro apologized after its fans chanted that right-wing presidential candidate Jair Bolsonaro will ‘kill the queers’.
The soccer team played Cruzeiro on Sunday (16 September), when fans from the club – which hails from Minas Gerais – started chanting at opposition fans.
They said: ‘Cruzeiro fans, be careful, Bolsonaro will kill the queers.’
The club later apologized on Twitter: ‘The CAM deeply regrets the homophobic displays ont he part of the fans in the game this Sunday in Mineirao. We reiterate our rejection of any gestures or incitement to violence.
A maior torcida de Minas é composta por pessoas de todas as classes sociais, raças e gêneros, não cabendo qualquer tipo de discriminação. Isso não faz parte da nossa gloriosa história!#TimeDeTodos
— Atlético (@atletico) September 17, 2018
‘The biggest crowd in Minar Gerais is made up of people from all social classes, races and genders, without any kind of discrimination. This is not part of our glorious history!’
Tensions are often high during matches between Atletico and Cruzeiro. Police arrested 12 fans this weekend after attempting to bring iron bars, sticks and fireworks into the ground.
Bolsonaro’s homophobic comments
Jair Bolsonaro is the front-runner of the Brazilian presidential election and has been heavily criticized by his homophobic views.
In a 2011 interview with Playboy, he claimed he would be ‘incapable of loving a gay son’ and would prefer they ‘die in an accident’ than come out to him.
Also, he stated in a 2013 interview with Stephen Fry that ‘no father is proud of having a gay son’. Bolsonaro then went on to claim ‘there is no homophobic behavior in Brazil’, adding most homosexual deaths resulted from ‘drug related situations, prostitution, or being killed by their own partner’.
Earlier this month, a reportedly ‘left-wing’ activist stabbed the preisdnetial candidate in the abdomen.
More from Gay Star News:
One year after homophobes forced it to close, Brazil’s queer museum reopens
A photo of a gay couple kissing is sparking outrage at a Brazilian tourist spot
Trans woman who works as a scavenger has dream wedding in Brazil
