Brazilian gay men

CAMBUQUIRA, Brazil — It happened on June twelfth, Brazil's Lover's Day. Leo Nunes, who was twenty-four years old, had spent a couple of days in conversation with someone he encountered via Hornet, which is a well-known gay dating app, before planning their initial meeting within Sao Paulo's Sacoma area, a middle-class neighborhood.

A security camera did indeed capture the instant when a duo of individuals on a motorbike appeared in the back street where he was awaiting, seized his cellular device, and fatally shot him.

The Nunes family, who actually shared details regarding the probe with Reuters, stated that a single suspect had been taken into custody. Sao Paulo law enforcement stated they are investigating the incident as a robbery resulting in a homicide, though they failed to offer any additional details or perhaps even confirm if an arrest had occurred.

Nunes became one of at a minimum five gay men killed since March of 2024 after planning encounters via dating apps throughout Brazil, according to various news accounts. Many more affected individuals have described on various social networking sites enduring armed robberies after having been lured by fraudulent profiles on gay dating apps.

Law enforcement have additionally cautioned about "love cons" that involve heterosexual men being tricked into kidnappings, although without providing concrete numbers.

The succession of homicides and attacks has really shaken the gay community within Brazil, which happens to be large and also vibrant but still oftentimes cautious regarding law enforcement. According to LGBT advocates, in addition to three people who stated they'd been attacked, such reluctance renders it a target to criminals.

'As a result of structural homophobia, perpetrators understand that LGBT individuals are actually vulnerable. They are fully aware that they are going to be much more easily intimidated,' stated Wanderley Montanholi, who is a lawyer for the relatives of Heleno Veggi Dumba, a homosexual medical doctor who had been discovered deceased during April throughout Sao Paulo subsequent to being shot within the head. Montanholi claimed that Dumba was fatally shot by criminals during an attempted robbery after they had drawn him straight into an ambush utilizing a dating app.

Sao Paulo law enforcement stated that they had apprehended three individuals in Dumba's death who continue to be in police detainment awaiting a legal court hearing. They made the decision to not give further specifics.

Montanholi stated the offenses replicated a trend through which offenders target homosexual men through dating apps and cultivate them for a number of days utilizing bogus profiles across a variety of social media platforms.

Law enforcement declined to comment on regardless of whether they had determined a wider trend involving homicides and also robberies associated with gay dating apps, stating only that detectives within Sao Paulo had resolved four cases concerning "love cons" on the whole.

Gabriel, a gay individual who declined to reveal his surname, mentioning privacy concerns, stated in late March he had arranged a meeting on the very same street within Sacoma in which Nunes had been fatally shot. He was lured by the very same dating profile as numerous additional victims, he subsequently discovered.

'One man pointed a firearm at my stomach area and demanded from me the access code for my cellular device,' he stated. Subsequently, the offenders gained access to his banking accounts, took his life savings, and even maxed out his charge card. Gabriel mentioned a group of females who provided him solace soon after had witnessed a virtually similar incident the prior night.

He described the assault in the official police report and also within a group chat, both of which were viewed by Reuters, and included six additional men who stated they had reported to law enforcement experiencing the very same violent con. Law enforcement authorities declined to issue a statement on their particular cases.

Gabriel mentioned that he along with others had additionally flagged their own incidents involving the very same false profile to Hornet. He mentioned that the fraudulent profile remained online for several weeks after he submitted his official report, which unfortunately Reuters was unable to separately confirm.

'An investigation might have occurred prior to Leo's case. It did not have to get this far," Gabriel stated.

Gerry Monaghan, the head of operations at Hornet, stated that 'all reports get looked into and reviewed by Hornet.'

Soon after the killing of Nunes in June, he clarified that the corporation had included staff to a workforce that works around-the-clock responding to user reports, as well as altered its global reporting system to give priority to much more critical concerns, though without elaborating.

A representative for Grindr, yet another gay dating app, declared the business is 'aware that in Brazil, online platforms like ours are at times misused to target LGBTQ+ individuals.'

He added in that the app involves security advice and components, and that the business cooperates thoroughly alongside law enforcement.

Similar to countless youthful LGBTQ Brazilians, Nunes had departed from his tiny hometown, Cambuquira, for the much more liberal city of Sao Paulo, which is four hours distant.

His plan was to become a psychotherapist and even assist individuals dealing with homelessness and dependence, his mom Adriana Rodrigues remembered. She received comfort in the "LGBT family" that embraced him within the big city.

Despite Sao Paulo boasting a vibrant gay scene and the world's biggest Pride parade, acquaintances of Nunes stated they talked about their repeated run-ins with homophobia and transphobia.

'We all had our unique story,' stated one friend, Vinicius Reis, who actually recalled Nunes watching out for at-risk members of their LGBTQ community, for example some forced to leave their family residences.

Nunes came out with the assistance of his parents within Cambuquira, and they referred to as his passing a hate crime.

'Criminals know their own victims will not go to the authorities,' his father Aurelio Nunes stated, while clasping his wife's hand throughout an emotional job interview. 'At times, they do not actually tell their loved ones resulting from shame.'

The Brazilian Forum on Public Safety, which is a civil society organization that tracks public safety concerns, documented two hundred fourteen homicides sparked by homophobia and transphobia the prior year, a surge of forty-two percent from two thousand twenty-two, while flagging that such criminal offenses are likely underreported.

Brazil's Supreme Court codified homophobia as a crime during two thousand nineteen, however three legal professionals stated throughout interviews that law enforcement and judges frequently steer clear of utilizing the label, preferring more expansive categories for example assault or even theft.

Vanessa Vieira, a public defender assisting the LGBT community within Sao Paulo state, stated that she has noticed 'great resistance to categorize crimes as homophobia by police officers and judges.'

That specific doubt has brought about LGBTQ victims' hesitation to come forward regarding criminal offenses, Vieira included.

'There is a great deal of concern to report, due to how it could hinder their lives,' she stated.