Brazilian city bans books that "induce homosexuality"

Aug 12, 2011, 19:00 GMT

Sao Paulo - The Brazilian city of Sao Jose dos Campos, near Sao Paulo, is to ban the use in schools of books and other material that may 'induce homosexuality in children.'

The bill was approved 11-9 late Thursday by the municipal legislature.

Sao Jose dos Campos is an important Brazilian technological centre and is home to the headquarters of the airplane manufacturer Embraer.

The lawmaker who proposed the bill, social-democrat Cristovao Goncalves, said the text is not homophobic.

He recalled that a few months ago the Brazilian Education Ministry considered distributing to students material designed to combat homophobia that showed pictures of a kiss between two boys, which the opposition nicknamed the 'gay kit.' The measure was later dropped amid opposition from religious leaders and lawmakers.

'I do not discriminate against people's sexual options. I have gay friends and they understand my point of view very well. The Education Ministry's 'gay kit,' for example, is not educational and induces homosexual practices,' he told the news website UOL.

Mayor Eduardo Cury, also a social-democrat, can still veto the bill.