Brazilian Mayor's Anti-LGBTQ Ban on 'Young Avengers' Backfires

A Brazilian mayor’s attempt to stop sales of an Avengers comic featuring a same-sex kiss has tremendously, hilariously backfired.

Rio de Janeriro’s Marcelo Crivella announced last week that he would be removing books that had “content that is unsuitable for minors” from the Rio International Book Biennial. He specifically highlighted the removal of Avengers: The Children’s Crusade, which features Hulkling and Wiccan kissing.

Crivella even went so far as to send inspectors to the event to try to forcibly remove the books, or have them sold in concealed packaging with a warning to protect the children. They were sent away.

This decree set off an incredible chain of events.

First, Brazilian YouTuber Felipe Neto bought 14,000 LGBTQ books for the festival to distribute free of charge to anyone there who wanted them.

“Love is not porn. Love should not be censored. It cannot be prohibited for minors. We need to send a message of unity, to show these people there is no way that they will censor LGBT+ content,” he said.

Then, a leading Brazilian newspaper printed the damn kiss between the young heroes on the cover while sharing the story of Crivella’s attempts at censorship.

By this point, the story had become so widely spread and condemned that the courts had to get involved. A judge blocked Crivella’s order to remove the books, saying it infringed upon the people’s freedom of expression.

However, a subsequent ruling from another judge upheld the ban, and Crivella sent armed police to confiscate any remaining LGBTQ books — which were reportedly quickly donated to anyone at the festival who wanted them, as they had been pre-purchased by Neto.

Despite this rollercoaster of events, the Young Avengers book in question sold out immediately in the midst of all the ruckus — despite being an old series that was originally published between 2010 and 2012.

And no matter how homophobic you are, you can’t ban sales of something everyone already bought.