Courts Block Brazilian Mayor’s Attempt to Ban Young Avenger’s Comic Over a Gay Kiss

Brazil’s Supreme Court has ruled that the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Marcelo Crivella, cannot ban sales of Marvel Comic’s Young Avengers that depicts two of the heroes (who are boyfriends) kissing.

According to the BBC, “Mayor Marcelo Crivella, a former bishop, had demanded the comic be withdrawn from a book fair, saying it included content unsuitable for minors.”

The Supreme Court overturned a decision by a lower court that permitted a ban.

Copies of the comic book, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade, quickly sold out after the mayor’s intervention.

The Supreme Court made it illegal to ban any LGBT publication. It ruled that Mr Crivella’s actions were illegal as they only targeted LGBT content.

The illustration that upset that mayor was also printed on the front page of Brazilian newspaper Folha de São Paulo on Saturday.

Esta é capa da #Folha deste sábado (7). Acesse https://t.co/OUrEFevL3e para ler mais. #folha #folhadespaulo #fsp pic.twitter.com/wru197Gpzi

— Folha de S.Paulo (@folha) September 7, 2019

The picture depicts the heroes, Wiccan and Hulkling, kissing while fully clothed. In the storyline, they are portrayed as being in a committed relationship.

Crivella went to post an incendiary video on Twitter Friday, calling  for issues of the comic book to be seized.

“Books like this need to be wrapped in black sealed plastic with a content warning displayed on the outside,” he said in another message.

Pessoal, precisamos proteger as nossas crianças. Por isso, determinamos que os organizadores da Bienal recolhessem os livros com conteúdos impróprios para menores. Não é correto que elas tenham acesso precoce a assuntos que não estão de acordo com suas idades. pic.twitter.com/sFw82bqmOx

— Marcelo Crivella (@MCrivella) September 5, 2019