Two Brazilian soldiers are being held by the army over the shooting of a gay teenager following Rio de Janeiro's pride parade. The army say one of the soldiers has admitted shooting 19-year-old student Douglas Igor Marques Luiz. Luiz told police he was hanging out with friends at the Arpoador, a rocky outcrop between Ipanema and Copacabana beaches Sunday when three men in military uniforms approached. He said they told everyone to leave, but held him back and started verbally abusing him. The aggression escalated, and eventually he was shot. He was treated at local hospitals and has since been released. The two army sergeants are to be questioned by police. The army initially denied any involvement. AAP says anti GLBT discrimination advocates are describing the shooting as an example of lingering homophobic attitudes that mar the city's reputation for tolerance. There have been 600 complaints of anti-GLBT violence in the last year just in Rio state, according to the government-run program Rio Sem Homofobia, established in 2009 to help fight discrimination. "We've gotten very far, but we need more political will to really improve conditions for the LGBT community in Brazil," Julio Moreira, president of the advocacy organization Grupo Arco-Iris de Cidadania LGBT, which means Rainbow Group for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Citizenship, told AAP. The organisation has called a rally Sunday demanding a thorough investigation of the attack on Luiz, and calling for Brazil's Senate to pass a law banning discrimination based on sexual identity or orientation.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Friday, 19th November 2010 - 11:23am