{{short description|Brazilian politician}} {{Portuguese name|Matos|Santos}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2016}} {{Infobox officeholder | name = Jean Wyllys | image = Jean Wyllys, 2015 (cropped).jpg | caption = Wyllys in 2015 | office = Federal Deputy for Rio de Janeiro | term_start = 1 February 2011 | term_end = 31 January 2019 | predecessor = | successor = David Miranda | birth_name = Jean Wyllys de Matos Santos | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1974|3|10|df=y}} | birth_place = Alagoinhas, Bahia, Brazil | party = PT (2021–present) | other_party = PSOL (2009–21) | website = {{URL|http://www.jeanwyllys.com.br}} }} '''Jean Wyllys de Matos Santos''' ({{IPA|pt-BR|ʒeˈɐ̃ ˈwiliz dʒi ˈmatus ˈsɐ̃tus|lang}}; born 10 March 1974) is a Brazilian lecturer, journalist and politician who rose to fame after winning the fifth season of ''Big Brother Brasil''. He was also notable as being Brazil's second openly gay member of parliament and the first congressman to be a gay-rights activist.<ref name=Guard>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jan/27/brazil-openly-gay-mp-jean-wyllys ''Jean Wyllys, Brazil's first openly gay MP, takes fight to the religious right''], Guardian, retrieved 27 January 2012</ref>{{efn|Clodovil Hernandes was the first openly gay elected member of Parliament, but unlike Wyllys, Clodovil was not a gay rights activist, i.e. he was opposed to same-sex marriage.<ref>http://acapa.virgula.uol.com.br/politica/com-quase-500-mil-votos-clodovil-e-o-primeiro-gay-eleito-para-o-cargo-de-deputado-federal/2/5/372 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120306220943/http://acapa.virgula.uol.com.br/politica/com-quase-500-mil-votos-clodovil-e-o-primeiro-gay-eleito-para-o-cargo-de-deputado-federal/2/5/372 |date=March 6, 2012 }} With about 500 thousand votes, Clodovil is the first gay elected for federal deputy (Portuguese)</ref>}} He has been compared to Harvey Milk for his work.<ref name=Guard/> In 2019, citing death threats, he resigned from his seat in Congress.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-24/gay-brazilian-congressman-resigns-his-seat-citing-death-threats | title=Gay Brazilian Congressman Resigns, Citing Death Threats | newspaper=Bloomberg.com | date=January 24, 2019 }}</ref>
==Life== Wyllys was born in Alagoinhas, in the northeastern state of Bahia, one of seven children.<ref name=Guard/> His mother was a washerwoman and his father a car painter who suffered from alcoholism.<ref name=Guard/> Wyllys attended a boarding school, which gave him the opportunity to get a better education than the average child in his village. Wyllys later moved to Salvador and obtained his bachelor's degree in journalism at the Federal University of Bahia.<ref name=Guard/> He first rose to fame after becoming the finalist in the Brazilian reality television show, ''Big Brother Brasil'' in its fifth season in 2005. He was the first openly gay participant in the show, which caused controversy amongst fans and participants alike. Wyllys described his victory as being of "great political relevance [...] I said I was a homosexual and I still won the TV show in a country that is homophobic."<ref name=Guard/>
===Political career=== In 2010 Wyllys was elected a federal member of the Brazilian Congress, representing the Socialism and Freedom party, with an average of 13,000 votes.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/eleicoes/exbbb-jean-wyllys-e-eleito-deputado-federal/n1237790770320.html|title=Ex-BBB Jean Wyllys é eleito deputado federal - Eleições - iG|first=Flávia Salme, iG Rio de|last=Janeiro|date=October 4, 2010|website=Último Segundo|accessdate=January 24, 2019|archive-date=November 20, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120095457/https://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/eleicoes/exbbb-jean-wyllys-e-eleito-deputado-federal/n1237790770320.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> His election was only possible, considering the number of votes he had in 2010 elections, through the so-called "voto de legenda" (party vote), a constitutional mechanism that allows candidates who do not have a large number of votes to be elected through votes of another highly voted candidate of the same party.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://g1.globo.com/especiais/eleicoes-2010/noticia/2010/10/confira-puxadores-de-voto-que-ajudaram-eleger-outros-candidatos.html|title=Confira 'puxadores' de voto que ajudaram a eleger outros candidatos|first1=Mariana OliveiraDo|last1=G1|first2=em São|last2=Paulo|date=October 4, 2010|website=Eleições 2010|accessdate=January 24, 2019}}</ref> In Wyllys's case, the votes of another congressman of Socialism and Liberty Party, Chico Alencar, who was one of the most voted in Rio de Janeiro, helped in his election. Upon occupying a seat in Congress, Wyllys brought his LGBT movement activism to the scene. He started working on his political platform, which was primarily focused on the fight for LGBT rights. In so doing, he ended up confronting prominent Brazilian right-wing figures, such as pastor Silas Malafaia, a famous televangelist and national president of the Assembly of God Churches, and Jair Bolsonaro, a congressman (later elected president) who became Wyllys's nemesis in the Brazilian Congress. Wyllys at one point spat at congressman Bolsonaro during the voting of President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/shannonsims/2016/04/18/the-most-outrageous-moments-of-brazils-impeachment-hearing/|title=The Most Outrageous Moments of Brazil's Impeachment Hearing|last=Sims|first=Shannon|website=Forbes|language=en|access-date=2019-05-01}}</ref> In Congress, he proposed three controversial pieces of legislation, including the regulation of prostitution, the legalization and government regulation of marijuana production, and the government financing of sex reassignment surgeries and hormonal treatment for transgender teenagers and adults.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.camara.gov.br/proposicoesWeb/fichadetramitacao?idProposicao=565315 |title=Projeto de Lei 5002/2013 |publisher=Camara.gov.br |accessdate=2019-01-24}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.camara.gov.br/sileg/integras/905839.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=November 4, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706125948/http://www.camara.gov.br/sileg/integras/905839.pdf |archive-date=July 6, 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.camara.gov.br/proposicoesWeb/prop_mostrarintegra?codteor=1012829 |title=Lei Gabriela Leite |format=pdf |access-date=2019-09-30| language=pt| date=July 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.camara.gov.br/proposicoesWeb/prop_mostrarintegra?codteor=1237297 |title=Sistema Nacional de Políticas Públicas sobre Drogas |format=pdf |access-date=2019-09-30| language=pt| date=2014}}</ref>
Wyllys' defense of minority rights and his existence as an openly gay Congress member and human rights activist have made him a public enemy of conservative political forces in Brazil. Living in a country with such a high rate of homophobic crimes as Brazil,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/22/brazil-lgbt-violence-deaths-all-time-high-new-research |title=Violent deaths of LGBT people in Brazil hit all-time high |work=The Guardian |date=January 22, 2018 |accessdate=1 May 2019}}</ref> Wyllys began to receive death threats. These became more recurrent after his political enemies began a campaign against him by posting and sharing in social media, including Facebook, images with quotes attributed to him, portraying him as being openly a paedophile.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://extra.globo.com/famosos/jean-wyllys-ganha-protecao-policial-ao-sofrer-ameaca-de-morte-8063027.html|title=Jean Wyllys ganha proteção policial ao sofrer ameaça de morte|date=April 9, 2013|website=Extra Online|accessdate=January 24, 2019}}</ref> Among other remarks falsely attributed to him was one which stated that the Bible was "a joke" and that Christians and Bible followers were "clowns." This was widely circulated. Nevertheless, people in social networks still shared them, strengthening the ongoing hate campaign against Wyllys. To repair his image damaged by the orchestrated campaign, he created a section on his official webpage where he refutes all the quotes attributed to him.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jeanwyllys.com.br/verdadeoumentira/|title=Verdade ou Mentira?|website=jeanwyllys.com.br|language=pt|accessdate=January 24, 2019}}</ref> Although his political image in the public sphere had been tarnished by the slanderous campaign, Wyllys ran for congress once again in 2014 and kept his seat in parliament with more than 100,000 votes, receiving the seventh most votes among representatives from Rio de Janeiro.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://odia.ig.com.br/index.php?id=/blogs/index.php|title=Blogs|publisher=O Dia|language=pt|date=January 24, 2019|accessdate=January 24, 2019}}</ref> [[File:06.07.2023 - Encontro com Jean Wyllys (53027175292).jpg|thumb|280px|right|President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ''(left)'', Wyllys ''(middle)'', and Paulo Pimenta ''(right)'' at the Palácio do Planalto, 2023.]] In 2015, it was announced that Brazilian independent filmmakers were planning to produce a documentary about Wyllys's political career and activism. The documentary was released in 2016 with the title "Entre os Homens de Bem" (Among Virtuous Men). The documentary focuses on the political arena in Brazil and addresses topics such as gay marriage and LGBT rights, and features Wyllys and his conservative opponents.
==== Resignation ==== Wyllys was re-elected to a third term as a member of Congress in the 2018 election. However, the campaign took a toll on him. His close friend, Rio de Janeiro city councillor Marielle Franco, was fatally shot in March 2018. In January 2019, just days before the February 1 swearing-in of the 56th Congress, Wyllys released a note from overseas stating that he would not return to Brazil due to alleged death threats and that he would not assume his position as congressman. He told the ''Folha de São Paulo'' newspaper that he did not want to live four years under close security watch.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jan/24/jean-wyllys-brazils-openly-gay-congressman-leaves-job-country-amid-death-threats|title=Brazil's sole openly gay congressman leaves country after death threats|date=2019-01-24|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-01-25|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> He was replaced in the Chamber of Deputies by David Miranda.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://g1.globo.com/politica/noticia/2019/01/24/deputado-jean-wyllys-nao-tomara-posse-para-novo-mandato-diz-assessoria.ghtml|title=Jean Wyllys decide não tomar posse para novo mandato em razão de ameaças|website=G1|date=January 24, 2019 |language=pt|accessdate=January 24, 2019}}</ref> Soon after news of Wyllys' resignation broke, President Bolsonaro reacted on Twitter, by posting the phrase "Great day" followed by a "thumbs-up" emoji. His son, Carlos Bolsonaro, also tweeted: "Godspeed and be happy".<ref name=":0" />
=== Life after Congress === As of 2022, Wyllys is performing doctoral research on “fake news” at the University of Barcelona.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jean Wyllys |url=https://www.cccb.org/en/participants/file/jean-wyllys/238866 |access-date=2023-05-02 |website=CCCB |language=en}}</ref> He returned to Brazil for the first time in July 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-07-01 |title=Jean Wyllys volta ao Brasil após 4 anos |url=https://www1.folha.uol.com.br/poder/2023/07/jean-wyllys-volta-ao-brasil-apos-4-anos.shtml |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=Folha de S.Paulo |language=pt-BR}}</ref> In May 2024, he called for Lula to not run for a fourth term in 2026, instead endorsing Simone Tebet as a potential successor.<ref>{{Cite web |last=www.2i9.com.br |first=2i9 multiagência- |title=Filiado ao PT, Jean Wyllys defende candidatura de Simone Tebet em 2026 |url=https://www.7segundos.com.br/maceio/noticias/2024/05/27/251855-filiado-ao-pt-jean-wyllys-defende-candidatura-de-simone-tebet-em-2026 |access-date=2024-11-25 |website=7Segundos |language=pt-br}}</ref>
==Notes== {{notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
{{Big Brother Brasil}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wyllys, Jean}} Category:1974 births Category:Living people Category:Brazilian gay politicians Category:Gay journalists Category:Brazilian gay writers Category:Brazilian LGBTQ journalists Category:LGBTQ members of the National Congress of Brazil Category:Brazilian LGBTQ rights activists Category:Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from Rio de Janeiro (state) Category:People from Alagoinhas Category:Socialism and Liberty Party politicians Category:Workers' Party (Brazil) politicians Category:Critics of Pentecostalism Category:Exiled politicians Category:Brazilian exiles Category:Big Brother Brasil winners Category:LGBTQ socialism