February 23, 2010

Vota now, vota often

Posted by: Chris

Cooking up homophobia on "Big Brother Brasil," Marcelo Dourado needs to go, and you can make it happen. From meu amigo and co-blogger Kevin comes this call to arms:

Attention to my American friends: There is a huge favor for gay rights you can help with in Brazil right now. … Please go online TODAY and vote as many times as possible (there is no limit to voting) -- vote to ELIMINATE Marcelo Dourado, the most homophobic and revolting participant ...that Big Brother Brazil has ever had, the same season they have put three openly gay participants in the house.

If this guy continues to win the contest, it will be a horrible day for Brazil. PLEASE HELP! You have to vote TODAY because the voting on this week's elimination ends tonight! If he is not eliminated, one of the gay characters will be...

A bit of background from my friend Juliano at Made In Brazil:

There are three openly gay contestants in the Big Brother Brazil house this season: a 20-year-old boy, a drag queen, and a lesbian. I did not necessarily expect any of them to be the favorites to win the R$ 1.5 million prize, but what I also did not expect is the fact that the only homophobe in the house is current favorite to win the big prize, perhaps a sign that the majority of viewers across the country are not ready for all the gay exposure on the show.

Over the course of the last 50 days, Marcelo Dourado, a castaway from season 3 of Big Brother Brazil who was brought back to the show this season, has made sure to let Brazilian viewers know that he is not only  homophobic, but also ignorant, and misogynistic. Earlier in the season he caught the media attention by saying that heterosexual men could not contract the HIV virus even by having sex with HIV positive women because AIDS only affected gay men.

According to him, the HIV virus is spread only through homosexual sex. After that statement, which was obviously addressed by Globo network, Dourado refused to have conversations which involved any gay topics saying that it disgusted him. He also said he wanted to beat the lesbian contestant and send her to the hospital, but that he couldn't do it because if he were to  physically attack someone he would be automatically eliminated from the show.

This might strike you as another case of political correctness, like the flap over a faggy lion mascot at Missouri Southern, but the difference is not only the outrageousness of the remarks and the absence of any apology. "Big Brother Brasil" has huge cultural influence in Brazil, along the lines of "American Idol" here in the U.S.

So imagine an Idol hopeful spewing ignorance of the sort of Marcelo Dourado, and click here to vote to eliminate him -- the deadline is today!

For those who understand Portuguese (or even Spanish, Italian or French will do), here are some of Dourado's homophobic highlights:

Tags: BBB10, Big Brother Brasil, gay, homofobico, Made in Brazil, Marcelo Dourado, O Globo