O progresso social pelas paradas: How the São Paulo Pride Parade Reflects Progress for Queer Equality in Modern-Day Brazil

Abstract

This thesis explores how São Paulo’s Pride Parades can be used to track the movement toward LGBTQ+ equality in Brazil from 1995 to 2020. Through examining each parade with respect to their themes, imagery, and soundscapes, we can track how these spectacles coincide with the various legislative happenings, the rise of queer activism, and the mobilization of the LGBTQ+ community itself. To conduct this exploration, a mixture of resources were used, both academic works and less scholarly pieces. Academic studies on queer theory, history of Brazilian queerness, and legislative proposals provide a framework for the analysis and evidence for the viability of using Pride Parades to view this development. Because of the subject matter’s modernity, pulling information from social media websites and news outlets within the past two decades offered valuable glimpses into parade-goers and personal accounts of the people who had, and have, been at the center of Brazil’s modern queer rights movement. This research sheds light on how Brazil has become known as one of the most LGBTQ+ friendly countries in the world. At the time, however, we must acknowledge the shortcomings that persist for queer Brazilians in the 21st century.