Entities repudiate Lula’s speech against people with disabilities

The series of disastrous phrases by President Lula (PT) at the beginning of his government had a new chapter this Tuesday (18), when the PT referred to people with mental disabilities as having “screw imbalance”. When commenting on the attacks on schools in the country, the president even suggested that people with mental disabilities would pose security risks.

“The WHO has always stated that in humanity there should be 15% of people with some mental disability problem. If this number is true, and you take Brazil with 220 million inhabitants, it means that we have almost 30 million people with screw imbalance problem. A misfortune may happen at one time”, said the president alongside STF minister Alexandre de Moraes at an event held in Brasília with ministers and governors.

The speech generated a flood of criticism from entities and people linked to the defense of the disabled population, labeling the statement as capacitist, that is, discriminatory against people with disabilities, and asking Lula to retract. On the other hand, federal government ministers and allies of the president chose to ignore the impact of the speech, and Lula himself preferred silence and did not retract. Silvio Almeida, head of the Ministry of Human Rights – government department responsible for the defense of people with disabilities – also decided not to question the statement and ignored the case.

Speech is discriminatory, say entities representing people with disabilities

In a publication on social networks, the Hands of Mothers of People with Schizophrenia Association (AMME) pointed out the PT’s words as “totally disrespectful”. “Capital speech coming from the President of the Republic, Luiz Inácio Lula. In addition to this utterly disrespectful speech towards those with mental disorders, he also adds that they are violent. Are you going to shut up about this or are you going to say it was just a joke?

The Instituto Lagarta Vira Pupa, which operates nationwide on behalf of people with disabilities, was another to take a stand against the declaration. “(…) the President expressed himself in a capable and frivolous way, bringing even more stigma to the lives of people with disabilities and mental disorders by reinforcing the common sense that places us as ‘dangerous’ and ‘violent’ and, therefore, unworthy of coexistence in society”, says an excerpt from the note. “It is worth mentioning that PCDs are, in the absolute majority of cases, victims and not perpetrators of violence”, he continues.

The institute also asked for Lula’s retraction and took the opportunity to demand advances in the agenda of people with disabilities at the federal level. “100 days of government have passed and we remain stagnant in extremely important issues, mainly in the areas of health and education”, declares the entity.

One of the members of the NGO, state deputy Andréa Werner (PSB), president of the Commission for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities of the Legislative Assembly of São Paulo (Alesp), was another to regret Lula’s speeches and label them “deeply unhappy”. ”.

“These statements put PCDs in danger and mask the real problem of violence in schools, which involves full support for students and teachers and monitoring of extremists on the internet. We cannot accept a speech that dehumanizes almost 30 million Brazilians coming from the president. We need an urgent retraction from President Lula”, said Andréa.

Activists of the cause who supported the PT campaign for the presidency also condemned the episode. Ivan Baron, one of the guests to go up the ramp of the Planalto Palace alongside Lula during the inauguration ceremony, on January 1st, was another to point out the capacitist character of Lula’s speech. “What the President says is extremely problematic and cannot be relativized”, he posted on social media.

“President Lula, it is extremely problematic to associate disability with a problem and with someone who has an emotional imbalance. People with intellectual disabilities already go through different situations that stereotype them in society, such as aggressors, violent people and those who don’t have the right intellectual functioning, for not following the standards of others”, said Baron, who has cerebral palsy and calls himself an “influencer of inclusion”.

Also a supporter of Lula, the president of the Special Committee for the Defense of the Autistic Person of the Federal Council of the OAB, Emerson Damasceno, classified the president’s statements as unacceptable. “First, because it stigmatizes even more those who already suffer the stigma of prejudice on a daily basis. Furthermore, because it links disability to the terrible and criminal massacres in schools, when we know that people with disabilities suffer daily, as victims, violence resulting from prejudice and hatred, even in schools,” said Damasceno to the Estadão.

Finally, Senator Mara Gabrilli (PSD-SP), a former member of the UN committee on the rights of people with disabilities, highlighted the imprudence of the president in addressing the issue. “The president’s speech is capable and reckless. Brazilians with psychosocial disabilities cannot be accused of being psychopaths. May Lula recant and delve deeper into diversity and inclusion. Good mental health policy starts with the right posture of a public leader,” she declared.

Author of complaint against comedian for alleged capacitism, Tabata Amaral avoids criticizing Lula about controversial speech

Federal deputy Tabata Amaral (PSB-SP), a member of the governing bloc of the Chamber of Deputies, avoided the use of incisive measures against Lula in relation to the episode. In February, the parliamentarian attracted a lot of criticism when she made a criminal representation to the Public Ministry of São Paulo against a comedian for a joke made on a stage of stand up in which the comedian narrated a case in which he had a sexual relationship with a woman in a wheelchair. The parliamentarian pointed out the existence of capacitism, and due to the repercussion of the complaint in the media, the comedian, who did not live exclusively from comedy, was fired from his regular job.

Tabata, who often advocates for the defense of people with disabilities and other groups, has a history of taking strong and even disproportionate measures against authors of statements considered offensive to the groups he defends. Last month, the parliamentarian even asked for the impeachment of the mandate of also federal deputy Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) for having made a supposedly transphobic speech.

However, in relation to Lula’s recent speech, the deputy made only one publication about the episode on social networks in which she does not even mention Lula directly. “Mental illness is not mimimi, it is not a lack of God, it is not a joke, nor is it ‘screw imbalance’. It is a serious topic that deserves everyone’s attention. Today we protocol our Parliamentary Front for the Promotion of Mental Health, of which I will have the honor of being the president”, said the deputy.

In response to the post, deputy Junio ​​Amaral (PL-MG) questioned the double standard employed by Tabata in relation to cases of alleged capacitism. “Are you going to take any action like you did with the comedian? Or does this type of ‘humor’ from your president have the endorsement of the hypocritical militancy of which you are a part?”, asked the deputy.

Positioning Ministry of Human Rights

A People’s Gazette asked for a position on the president’s statements to the Ministry of Human Rights and the National Secretariat for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, both linked to the federal government. So far there has been no response to the report.