have government support because of the poor infrastructure in the region. Relations with local communities were increasingly difficult because of pressures on the educational and health systems. Violence against human rights defenders Many human rights defenders who have arisen to oppose human rights violations and their families and friends suffer violence and persecution across Brazil. Telephone death threats are prominent and often followed through by ambush or assassination. Government officials, attorneys, union leaders and even religious leaders have often been targeted, as with Antonio Fernandez Saenz affair. The danger of human rights defense entered the world press with the murder of Dorothy Stang in 2005, and Chico Mendes in 1988. On 11 April 2022, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights(OHCHR) issued a statement condemning the restrictions on Brazilians’ rights to full and active social and political participation, and the appalling levels of violence directed against human rights defenders, women journalists, indigenous peoples and traditional communities in particular of African-descent. LGBT rights Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Brazil enjoy many of the same legal protections available to non-LGBT people, with LGBT people having marriage rights available nationwide since May 2013. It is allowed for same-sex couples to marry, and have the same legal rights as married heterosexuals. The São Paulo Gay Pride Parade is the world's largest LGBT pride celebration, with 4 million people in 2009. Brazil had more than 60,000 same-sex couples in 2010 (IBGE). The country also has 300 active LGBT organizations. Prejudice against LGBT groups has also decreased according to data from a survey of Ibope, Brazil's institute for statistics and public opinion. 60% of Brazilians consider homosexuality natural. However, violence and prejudice remains, and Brazil is one of the countries where the most gay people are killed. According to the report "Epidemic of Hate", published in 1996 by the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, at least 1,200 gays, lesbians and transsexuals were killed in Brazil in a decade. See also Anti-discrimination laws in Brazil Social apartheid in Brazil Women's rights in Brazil Heráclito Fontoura Sobral Pinto Candelária massacre (1993) Carandiru massacre (1992) Complexo do Alemão massacre (2007) Police brutality in Brazil References Further reading & external links Zimbardo, et al. Violence Workers France Winddance Twine "Racism in a Racial Democracy" Hub.witness.org, "Bound by Promises", video co-produced by Witness and Comissão Pastoral da Terra (CPT) about slave labor.