False: The image circulating on WhatsApp is false, suggesting that former president and candidate for the Presidency of the Republic Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) posted on Twitter stating that he will close churches that do not perform same-sex marriages. In addition to the fact that the tweets do not exist, there are no records of Lula declaring that he is going to close churches, a rumor that Comprova had previously denied.
Investigated Content: Image with the following highlighted text: “Attention! Lula has just declared that she will close churches in 2023, this is very serious church.” The alert is accompanied by two alleged tweets from the presidential candidate on the subject. In one of them, Lula is saying that “priests and pastors who refuse to marry LGBT couples will be arrested and have their churches closed for the crime of homophobia”.
where it was published: Whatsapp
Completion of Proof: The content circulating on WhatsApp is false, claiming that Lula will arrest priests and pastors and close churches. The image contains two supposed “prints” of statements on the subject that would have been made by the candidate on Twitter on October 4th, which is not true. In fact, it is a false image trying to reproduce Lula’s official account on the social network. The former president never stated this on his social media or in any public statement.
The false post seeks to create a relationship between homosexual marriages and the closing of churches, stating that religious institutions that do not accept to promote the union of people of the same sex would be condemned to closing for the crime of homophobia, which is also a lie.
The legal provisions that characterize the crime of discrimination against people from the LGBTQIA+ community do not establish mandatory marriage in churches. The same-sex civil union also does not deal with celebrations in religious environments.
Since the beginning of the presidential campaign, various disinformation content has been created to falsely associate Lula with the closing of churches, such as an edited video shown in verification of the check. O Superior Electoral Court (TSE) has already determined that bolsonaristas delete posts on the subject.
Falsefor Comprova, is content invented or edited to change its original meaning and deliberately disclosed to spread a falsehood.
Scope of publication: Message marked as “frequently forwarded” on WhatsApp, which indicates virality.
What the author of the publication says: The author of the publication was not identified.
How do we check: We did an advanced search on Lula’s official Twitter profile for the keywords “evangelicals”, “churches” and “homophobia”. We used each of the terms associated with @lulaoficial and, in the query, it was possible to find all the posts by the former president in which these words appear.
Then, we observed all the publications made on the former president’s page on October 4th – the date on which the presidential candidate would have made the supposed posts, as shown in the verified content. We also compared the alleged Twitter screenshots of the former president with tweets from the official page.
Afterwards, we contacted the PT’s press office and consulted the candidate’s government program, available on the TSE website.
We also searched on Google for the terms “Lula” + “close churches” and “Lula” + “arrest priests and pastors”, which returned checking contents (UOL Check and Rumors.org) It’s from own party, denying the claim. The research also led us to journalistic material About the subject.
Advanced search on Twitter showed other statements
Using the feature advanced search on Twitter to locate posts on Lula’s official page, with terms such as “evangelicals”, “evangelicals” and “church”, the former president’s statements are different from what the content investigated here tries to insinuate.
In January 2020, Lula spoke about respect and make no distinction of no belief. More recently, in August of this year, PT signaled that President Jair Bolsonaro (PL), who is running for reelection and whose group draws conclusions about his opponent’s religiosity, acts to manipulate the people’s faith.
Lula’s most recent post with the term “evangelicals” is from September 9, when he talks about a date with a religious group in São Gonçalo, Rio de Janeiro. On October 4, the date on which the presidential candidate allegedly wrote the content falsely attributed to him, the PT member mentioned the word “church” in a post about Dom Cláudio Hummes, Archbishop Emeritus of São Paulo who died this year, and in another that reinforced his interest in second roundcomparing it with the choice of godparents in the Catholic church.
Lula tweeted about various topics
On October 4th, the date on which Lula was supposed to have published the messages about the arrest of priests and pastors and the closing of churches, the presidential candidate tweeted 20 times. None of the publications mention the invented content. Lula’s posts on the date in question refer to San Francisco’s Day, a meeting between PT and Frei Davi and Franciscan friars, the fight against hunger and indebtedness, the importance of access to education, the support won for the second shift and the candidate’s travels across the country.
Lula did not say he will close churches
This is not the first publication alleging that Lula intends to close churches, if elected. Before the first round, content with this focus was already circulating, as demonstrated by Comprova in this verification. This week, the TSE determined that Bolsonarist groups delete fake posts claiming that the presidential candidate persecutes churches.
Sought, Lula’s press office informed that the tweets are not real and that the PT “never said or posted that”. He added that the image is about “a low Bolsonarista campaign to deceive the population with fake news, as they did during the pandemic”.
On the 18th of August, the presidential website published a text, in which he clarifies that Lula has never closed, nor does he intend to close churches. At the time, other pieces of disinformation involving the same lie were already spreading through social media. “Lula is Christian, has already been president, has not closed and will not close churches. In 8 years of government, he has not promoted any action that came close to such absurdity”, says the note. The demonstration also claims that Lula ruled for all and even signed the religious liberty law.
Government program commits to combating religious intolerance
available on the website of Disclosure of Candidacies and TSE Electoral Accounts, the document entitled “Guidelines for the Reconstruction and Transformation Program in Brazil” presented by candidate Lula and by candidate for vice on the ticket, Geraldo Alckmin (PSB), does not even mention the term “churches”.
On the topic of religion, the plan claims to defend “civil rights, guarantees and individual freedoms, including respect for freedom of religion and worship” and is committed to combating religious intolerance.
Regarding the LGBTQIA+ community, the document, attributed to the Coalition Brasil da Esperança, of which the PT and eight other parties are part, condemns moral and physical aggression against this population and proposes “policies that guarantee rights, combat discrimination and respect for LGBTQIA+ citizenship in its different forms of manifestation and expression”. The program does not specifically address same-sex marriages.
The LGBTQIA+ community is also mentioned in the passage in which the document deals with public security: “Public security policies will contemplate actions of attention to victims and will prioritize the prevention, investigation and prosecution of crimes and violence against women, black youth and the population LGBTQIA+. A nationally coordinated and integrated policy is essential to reduce homicides involving investment, technology, fighting organized crime and militias, in addition to specific public policies for populations made vulnerable by crime.”
churches x homophobia
The Federal Supreme Court (STF) approved, in June 2019, the criminalization gives homophobia and transphobia, aggressions that, from then on, were typified in the same way as racism — that is, a heinous crime, unbailable and with a penalty of two to five years in prison for the aggressor. The topic had already been in the National Congress for 18 years and the ministers took the decision because they understood that the parliamentarians were being silent on this agenda.
A sensitive topic in religious communities, the homoaffective relationship was also addressed in the decision of the STF ministers, who stated that it would not be criminalized to say in temples to be against homosexual relationships, but, yes, it would be criminalized to incite or induce in these spaces to discrimination or prejudice. But it is not about mandatory gay marriage within the church, nor that its restriction would be a crime.
The same-sex civil union, that is, in the registry offices, is another right of the LGBTQIA+ public, although still not be law. In 2011, the STF unanimously recognized the stable union between same-sex couples as a family entity. Thus, this part of the population was given the same rights as provided for in the Common-law marriage, which considers “lasting, public and continuous coexistence” as a family entity.
In 2013, a resolution published by the National Council of Justice (CNJ) guaranteed same-sex marriage in the country, determining that notaries and judges are prohibited from refusing to register civil marriage and conversion from stable to civil union between homosexuals.
why do we investigate: Comprova investigates suspicious content that goes viral on social media about the presidential elections, public policies and the pandemic. During the electoral period, many contents are being released with the aim of disrupting the process and influencing the voter’s choice. The content verified this time presents a false allegation involving the presidential candidate Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. The population must choose its candidates based on true and reliable information.
Other checks on the topic: The same image was checked by the UOL Check and fur Rumors.org, who also concluded that the content is false. Another piece of disinformation that sought to spread the same lie has already been verified by the check.
This week, Comprova also demonstrated that Army did not interfere in the counting of votes for presidentwhat video in which Bolsonaro offers grass to Lula voters is from 2018 and does not refer to northeasterners is that there is no proof that a ballot box prevented Bolsonaro from voting in Pará.
Investigated by: Estado de S.Paulo, A Gazeta and Grupo Sinos; Verified by: CNN Brasil, Rádio BandNews FM, GaúchaZH, O Povo, Metrópoles, Correio Braziliense, Piauí, Plural Curitiba and Imirante.com
Source: CNN Brasil
