The role of progressive parliamentarians in the Chamber of Deputies in Brazil

In 2002, for the first time after the dictatorship, a leftist party won the elections in Brazil, and Luis Inácio Lula da Silva, a union leader from Workers Party (PT), became the president. During the period in which the PT was in power, important advances in the rights of women and the LGBTQI population were achieved. As an example, we can mention the approval of a law to combat domestic violence; the recognition of homosexual couples as a family; public educational policies aimed at combating inequalities; the attempt to decriminalize abortion; the election of the first woman to the presidency, in 2011. However, these achievements gave rise to a backlash. And one of the places where the reaction was strongest was the Chamber of Deputies. The Brazilian Chamber of Deputies has witnessed a backlash against gender equality since the mid-2000s. This paper aims to discuss how progressive parliamentarians acted in the debate and processing of two bills that illustrate the dispute in that space. One of the bills sought to implement a Family Statute excluding homosexual couples from the definition of family (PL 6583/2013). And the other bill sought to restrict discussions in schools regarding gender, race and class inequalities and sexuality (PL 7180/2014). This last project is related to the movement called “Escola sem Partido” (School without Party). In total, 294 speeches given in the plenary of the Chamber of Deputies were analyzed, as well as speeches given in the committees through which the bills were processed. The analysis shows that there are parliamentarians who acted actively in the two projects, indicating a commitment in relation to the defense of these rights; and that these deputies are from left-wing parties. In addition to the speeches, parliamentarians made maneuvers aiming at not voting on the projects, being successful in the case of the School without a Party, and being defeated with regard to the Family Statute, approved in 2015. The paper shows that even in environments with an immense conservative majority, in which there is an active search to restrict the rights of women and the LGBTQI population, parliamentarians who are concerned and active in protecting the rights of these groups can make a difference.