Evangelical Jurists and Human Rights in Brazil: A Case Study of the National Association of Evangelical Jurists (ANAJURE)

Abstract

Over the last decade, evangelical jurist groups have emerged in Brazilian courts. Intervening in public controversies about the meaning of human rights, they confronted the agendas of the feminist and LGBTQI+ movements. This phenomenon did not occur as a denial of the importance of advancing the issue of human rights, but, on the contrary, in accordance with the normative public sphere and the procedures for demanding rights in modern democratic societies. From a genealogical approach, this chapter addresses the collective mobilization process of jurists on behalf of evangelicals’ interests in Brazil, focusing on the relationship these groups maintain with LGBTQI+ movements in contentious processes involving rights claims. From the public controversy surrounding criminalizing violence against homosexuals to the judgment of this issue by the Supreme Federal Court, the mobilization of evangelical groups in the legal world is analyzed. The material comprises documents, interviews and statements on the themes of homophobia and homosexuality made by members of the National Association of Evangelical Jurists (ANAJURE). They redefine human rights claims made in the courts by LGBTQI+ subjects, contesting the legitimacy of the acceptance of these demands by these institutions of power. Although they emerged at the intersection of law and religion, these groups use their legal identity to gain public recognition and intervene in controlling the borders between the worlds of law and politics.