In Brazil You Can Find Self-Defence Classes Tailored To The LGBT+ Community

With homophobic hate crime reports increasing at the rate that they are, martial art studios are tailoring classes to specifically help LGBT+ people.

Specifically, in Brazil’s Rio De Janeiro, Piranhas Team, a self-defense group founded by LGBT+ activists started giving classes dedicated to people of that community.

“I could see right away that it was the perfect chance for me to learn how to defend myself and stop being scared of homophobic attacks all the time,” a student of these classes told NBC News. “After being threatened many times in my life, since I was a teenager, in different places, I started to feel scared of going out and even walking toward men on the streets.”

After the elections in Brazil in October 2018 where Jair Bolsonaro was elected the group has witnessed a substantial increase in demand. Bolsonaro had previously stated: “I would be incapable of loving a gay son. I prefer that he die in an accident.”

Tailored self-defense classes for the LGBT+ community can also be found in the U.S., the U.K., and Australia.

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