"THE PENTECOSTAL BLACK FAUGHT ANNOYS!": A TALK ABOUT GENDER, RACE AND RELIGION (Atena Editora)

Abstract

In Brazil, for a long time now, most masculinities have been impacted by the figure of the “fag”, gay men who do not conform to the dominant pattern. In contrast, there is the normalized gay, the one who denies the queer. There is a symbolic sense of belonging that limits behaviors and places based on conservative religious and social interpretations, which regulates and controls bodies, sometimes perpetuating inequalities in people who do not fit the heterosexual norm, as is the case of the “Pentecostal black fag”. Religions, including Pentecostal, endorse heterosexuality and whiteness as elements that guarantee an existence in the center, indicating the margin as the appropriate place for effeminate gays, faggots, fags, and also for black Pentecostals. The idea of its existence is rejected by the religious majority. The intersectionality tool (CRENSHAW, 2002) helps to question the rigid axis of the man/white/straight equation, which is the standard of the patriarchal system and which destroys subjectivities outside the norm. The objective is to question the existence of the "Pentecostal black fag" in inclusive churches, through an intersectional look at this "combo" of oppression and subordination. Intercessionality helps to highlight the fissures and marks of these people who are on the margins of society and who insist on persisting in their spaces. In this text, interviews rescue the experience of Pentecostal black fagots from the Nova Esperança Church in São Paulo to shed light on the construction of a “place” for this portion of the Brazilian population.