Judith Butler and her partner assaulted by ultraconservatives in Brazil where they had traveled to attend a symposium on "The ends of democracy"
GAYLES.TV.- Judith Butler had been invited by the University of California at Berkeley (where he teaches) and for the Department of Philosophy of the University of Sao Paolo to participate in an academic event on the concept of popular sovereignty and its relationship with liberal democracy. The symposium "The ends of democracy" had little or nothing better to do with issues related to the LGTBI movement, feminism or queer theory on which Butler has published several texts and held conferences. But that was not an obstacle for the intellectual to be attacked verbally and almost physically by ultra conservatives close to evangelical movements who see Butler as the incarnation of the devil and whose mere presence alerted his followers who decided to boycott the event and ask for nothing less than the expulsion of Butler from the country.
The ultras used the platform CitizenGo (Interestingly the same one that uses HazteOir for international dissemination) to gather 370.000 signatures asking for the cancellation of Butler's visit. The text read: "We do not want a gender ideology that masks a Marxist political goal. His books want us to believe that identity is variable and the result of culture. Science and above all reality show us the opposite. His presence in our country in a communist symposium, paid with money from an international foundation, is not desired by an overwhelming majority of the national population. ".
It is quite delirious to speak of a Marxist threat in an act paid for by US capital, but that aspect added to the mention of the "Gender ideology" They were enough to unleash hysteria on social networks. Dozens of people gathered in front of the building where the symposium was held holding banners and chanting slogans of hatred against Butler, even burning a doll that represented it.
But not satisfied with the boycott of the act, the ultras moved to the airport of Congonhas And when Judith and her partner were about to catch the flight back to their country, a group of people harassed them, chasing them through the airport lobby and shouting slogans such as "You are not welcome", "you are evil", "Destroyer of children", "Pedophile" o "Family destroyer". Everything very nice and cozy, come on. Finally, the security guards and some passengers intervened, interposing themselves between the attackers and the couple who finally managed to get away and catch their flight.
It is worrying that the aggressiveness shown towards Butler does not suppose an isolated fact but one more symptom of the ideological regression that the Brazilian society experiences and that threatens to disrupt the advances in the LGTBI rights that had been achieved in the last years. Different homophobic leaders are escalating power positions at both the municipal and legislative levels. In fact at this time Jair Bolsonaro, a recalcitrant homophobe, has managed to be among the favorites to the presidency of the country facing the 2018. We will follow closely a situation that at first appears as little disturbing.
We recommend you not to miss the viewing of the videos that illustrate the harassment suffered by both Butler and his partner.
Sources: milenio.com, clarin.com
GAYLES.TV
Online TV
