Eduardo Leite, Brazil’s First Out Gay Governor, Wins Re-Election

Brazil’s first out gay governor, Eduardo Leite of Rio Grande do Sul, easily won re-election on Sunday night in a run-off. Leite, a member of the centrist Brazilian Social Democracy Party, defeated Onyx Lorenzoni of the right-wing Liberal Party (and soon-to-be former President Jair Bolsonaro’s former chief-of-staff) by a vote of 57 to 43 percent. Leite was first elected governor of Brazil’s southernmost state in 2019. He came out in July 2021 during an interview with a late-night talk show host. As I reported yesterday, anti-LGBTQ and far-right President Jair Bolsonaro lost his bid for re-election on Sunday to former President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in the second round of Brazil’s presidential election on Sunday. In 2018, Leite endorsed Bolsonaro in spite of his virulently anti-LGBTQ rhetoric including opposition to marriage equality. The memory of his endorsement became a point of debate when he came out in 2019. Since that time, Leite has sharply criticized Bolsonaro over his woeful mishandling of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil. https://twitter.com/WashBlade/status/1587103220136120322 More from the Washington Blade:

Leite is one of the 324 openly LGBTQ candidates who ran in this year’s gubernatorial, state legislative, congressional and presidential elections.

Two transgender women — São Paulo Municipal Councilwoman Erika Hilton of the leftist Socialism and Liberty Party and Belo Horizonte Municipal Councilwoman Duda Salabert of the leftist Democratic Labor Party — on Oct. 2 won seats in Congress.

Fábio Felix, a gay member of the Socialism and Liberty Party who is a member of the Federal District’s Legislative Chamber in Brasília, the country’s capital, also won re-election on Oct. 2.