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(CNN) - After the evangelical mayor of Rio de Janeiro tried to ban an illustration of two male superheroes kissing at a book fair, one of Brazil's largest newspapers decided to put it on the front page.
The controversy began last week after Rio's mayor, Marcelo Crivella, demanded that the Marvel comic “Vingadores: A Crusade Das Crianças” (“Avengers: the crusade of children”) be withdrawn from the biennial book fair from Rio because he shows the male superheroes Wiccan and Hulkling kissing. The comic was sold completely at the book fair on Friday, organizers told Agence France-Presse.
- The mayor of Rio de Janeiro sought to ban the book in which two male superheroes kiss. All copies were sold
The Folha De Sao Paulo newspaper said it used its cover on Saturday and editorials on Sunday to discuss the issue.
The cover of the Folha De S.Paulo newspaper on Saturday showed an image of the comic in which two men kissing appear.
“The mission of professional journalism and a newspaper like Folha is to be uncompromising with obscurantist attempts and shed light on threats of censorship,” said Sérgio Dávila, editorial director of the newspaper.
The comic was initially published in 2010. Its illustrator, Jim Cheung, said in a long post on Instagram that the debacle that "is now being put in the spotlight by the mayor may just highlight how disconnected it could be with the current times."
“The LGBTQ community is here to stay, and I have nothing but love and support for those who continue to fight for validation and a voice to be heard,” said Cheung.
Crivella is a conservative evangelical who described homosexuality as "terrible evil" in his 1999 book "Evangelizing Africa."
Crivella wrote on Twitter "we need to protect our children" and said the fair was collecting books with "content that is not suitable for minors."
"It is not right that they have early access to issues that are not appropriate for their age," he said.
After his lawsuit provoked a violent reaction, he said in a later tweet: "The decision to collect the comics at the Biennale had only one goal: to comply with the law and protect families."
The organizers of the book fair responded on Friday by presenting a preventive mandate before the Court of Justice of Rio de Janeiro. In a statement posted on Instagram, the organizers said that the mandate was intended to "ensure the full functioning of the event and the right of exhibitors to market literary works on the most diverse topics, as provided by Brazilian law."
The book fair organized events on topics that include “happiness, science, motherhood, theater, trans literature, LGBTQA + and more,” according to the Instagram post.
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