Dramatic Arrest - Gay Soldier’s Fate Grips Brazil
Brazilian military police set off a firestorm of controversy this week when they swarmed a television station, interrupted an interview in progress, and arrested an army sergeant who recently revealed that he was gay. The extraordinary set of events came about just before Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva addressed the country's first national gay rights' conference.
The BBC is reporting that Laci Marinho de Araujo was taken into custody following the publication of a magazine article in which he and his partner, who is also a sergeant in the Brazilian army, spoke publicly about their life together as a couple.
The sergeant, who is being treated for a variety of medical problems including multiple sclerosis, was recently absent from his unit, and the army has accused him of desertion.
Brazil is not one of the twenty-four foreign militaries, including Israel, Britain, France and Australia, that allow gays to serve openly.
Labels: foreign militaries
-----06-06-08
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