Human rights for some in Jair Bolsonaro’s Brazil

Once the results came in and Jair Bolsonaro was elected president of Brazil in October 2018, human rights defenders around the country feared the worst. Mr. Bolsonaro’s far-right platform takes a skewed view of the very concept of “human rights,” with many of his supporters understanding the term as synonymous with protecting criminals.

Concerns were raised higher when Mr. Bolsonaro appointed lawyer and Evangelical pastor Damares Alves to head the Ministry of Women, Family, and Human Rights. Ms. Alves gained notoriety for her ultra-conservative comments on gender issues, declaring at her inauguration that Brazil was “entering a new era, where boys wear blue and girls wear pink.”

Ms. Alves also railed against what she saw as indoctrination in the Disney animated film Frozen claiming the lead character ended up alone “because she’s a lesbian,” and that she will “wake up Sleeping Beauty with a gay kiss.”

Several political pundits identified Damares Alves’ appointment as an evasive move by the government, with her prominent role allowing her to speak out on controversial social issues and divert attention away from scandal and crisis closer to the president. Jair Bolsonaro...