Bruna David is a historian and scientist of religion. She works as a writer and translator, especially on the themes related to gender, LGBTIQA+ people and religion. She has also done research on religious intolerance in the Brazilian context. Since she was young, Bruna has been involved in the fight for a fairer world. When in college, she funded a group to protect and provide care for the animals who were being mistreated at the college campus. Since then, she has worked with Catholics for a Free Choice, an NGO fighting for sexual and reproductive justice. In 2019, she founded a group called Colective Faith.minists (Coletivo Fé.ministas), a collective which fights for a secular State, and against fundamentalism, and to help women and non-binary people who struggle in their own communities of faith. Her work aims to show the world that faith, religion, gender and LGBTQIA+ experiences are connected with each other in the life of people. Bruna now also sits on the Secretariat of Realizing Sexual and Reproductive Justice (RESURJ).
Noor: Firstly, what are the major and emerging threats to bodily autonomy that you’re experiencing from fundamentalist / authoritarian movements?
BD: Brazil is a Secular State, but since ever the moral and the religion influence in laws and in the regular life of the people. It demonstrates that is very hard to have bodily autonomy in a broadly way, but the fundamentalist movement was increased on the last decade or two, and it culminates in the Jair Bolsonaro election in 2018. So, in his time of government, between 2018 and 2022, the fundamentalism was mixed up with the authoritarian way of leadership. Also, we had a lot of step backs with Damares Alves who was the minister of “family and woman”. She defended the abstinence as contraceptive method and was totally against the LGBTA+ community, among other retrograde thoughts. Fortunately, we have a new president, Lula, that is left-handled and had a lot of concerns and actions about humans rights, but the concern remains since the followers of Bolsonaro (including his wife, Michele) called “Bolsonaristas” still have visibility and power because many of them were elected to public office in the last election as Damares Alves herself that now is senator. So, even it the thought that the “worst is gone” the threat remains and we need to stay alert.
Noor: What are keyways in which feminist movements are challenging authoritarianism and fundamentalisms (in your context)?
BD: Show that religion can be a way to give freedom to people instead to be repressive to them has been very revolutionary. The new religions movements, left-handed and concerned about human rights, even inside the traditional religions as Catholic and Evangelical church (in all its diversity), has been open minded and game changing to the Brazilian society.
Noor: Overall, what do you see as the gaps in feminist/progressive challenges to the far right? What isn’t being done that should be done to support and advance anti-fascist and anti-fundamentalist movements, and/or what should there be more of? What should be amplified or supported or better connected?
BD: I think that one of the biggest problems of the left-handled government and ideology is to not consider the religion itself so they can totally access this slice of the population that in Brazil is very big and faithful to their ideas. And the fundamentalism got this. They have the language and the tolls to access this people. I am not saying that this people are dummies, but yes that the social movements still using a difficulty language what makes the comprehension hard. Other thing that is important to bring is that in some situations we still have this “white savior” behavior not listening to the need of the people itself. So, the reflection is that the revolution/changes need to be from top to bottom and not otherwise, with the society leading it.