BRAZIL: Resurrected Bills Would Mandate Bible Study, Promote Creationism, And Repeal Same-Sex Marriage

Over at the Friendly Atheist, our friend Hemant Mehta reports that right wing lawmakers are wasting no time in pushing an anti-LGBT and Christianist agenda now that Jair Bolsonaro is in power.

There’s a system in Brazil that allows old bills to essentially get resurrected by their sponsors even if they didn’t become laws in the past. By “dearchiving” those bills — they use the word “desarquivamento” — it allows legislators to leapfrog some of the bureaucratic hurdles that might arise by starting from scratch.

PL 8099, first introduced in 2014 by pastor and Congressman Marco Feliciano, would push Creationism into the public schools. PL 9164, first introduced in 2017 by Congressman Cape Daciolo, would require the “study of the Holy Bible” to be taught in primary and secondary schools.

PL 10529, first introduced in 2018 by pastor and Congressman Hidekazu Takayama, would allow prisoners to reduce their time behind bars if they read the Bible. PL 5167, first introduced in 2009 by Congressman Captain Assumção, would ban same-sex marriage (which is currently legal).

Another bill, first introduced by Balsonaro himself, would require that a large crucifix be installed in the House chamber. Hit the link for more.