New research has revealed at least 445 LGBT+ Brazilians have died as victims of homophobia in 2017, following a 30 per cent increase of reported deaths from the previous year.
LGBT+ activist Luiz Mott, attributed such homophobic violence to the prominence of the countries ultra-conservative politicians and televised evangelical programming that often equates homosexuality with the devil.
At odds with its reputation for being an inclusive nation, Brazil is one of the world's most violent countries, with over 62,000 homicides reported in 2016.