Brazilian President and “proud homophobe” Jair Bolsonaro. (EVARISTO SA/AFP/Getty)
Jair Bolsonaro reportedly made the unfounded and false claim that the World Health Organization (WHO) promotes homosexuality and masturbation among children.
Bolsonaro, who previously called himself a “proud homophobe” and has said he would rather have dead son than a gay one, reportedly took to Facebook to make completely unfounded claims about the WHO, without citing any sources.
According to Brasil247, he wrote: “This is the World Health Organization (WHO), that many say I must follow in the case of the coronavirus.
“Should we then also follow its guidelines for educational policies?”
He then claimed that for children up to 4 years old, the WHO recommends “satisfaction and pleasure in touching one’s own body (masturbation); expressing their needs and desires, for example, in the context of ‘playing doctor.’”
For children between 4 and 6 years old, he said the organisation pushed “a positive gender identity; enjoyment and pleasure in touching one’s body, masturbation in early childhood; same-sex relationships”.
Finally children between 9 and 12, Bolsonaro said, were encouraged to have their “first sexual experience”.
Although he did not cite any evidence or sources in his Facebook post, according to UOL Bolsonaro appeared to be twisting information from a 2010 guide developed with the WHO for parents, not children, by the Federal Centre for Health Education in Germany,
The guide provides information to parents on how to discuss sexuality and gender with their children, and does not encourage sexual behaviour.
As Facebook users began to point out the wild inaccuracies in his post, Bolsonaro deleted it minutes later.
The Brazilian leader recently downplayed coronavirus as “fear-mongering”, said he was too macho for the virus to affect him and called for an end to regional lockdowns.
Bolsonaro, 65, said: “With my history as an athlete, if I were infected with the virus I would have no reason to worry.
“I would feel nothing, or it would be at most just a little flu.”