IN GREEN LAND ALSO SHINES THE RAINBOW: LGBTQIAPN+ RESISTANCE TO BRAZILIAN RURAL CONSERVATISM

Abstract

This article proposes an investigation based on gender analysis on resistance practices
adopted by LGBTQIAPN+ subjects inserted in rural contexts in the state of Rio Grande do Norte,
in the face of heteronormativity, violence and LGBTQIAPN+phobia. The research is based on the
premise that in small communities, control over the individual is more pronounced, and that the
representations conveyed by the media and social networks create an ideal imaginary of freedom and
LGBTQIAPN+ experience in urban and metropolitan areas, where the expression of ( de) gender
identities is facilitated. However, it is questioned whether this supposed cosmopolitan freedom
effectively represents a greater emancipation, or if it is just a component of the positive imaginary
projected for the urban space. As for the methodology of the study, it consisted of bibliographical
research, collection of written reports from five LGBTQIAPN+ residents of the rural territories of
Mato Grande, Terras Potiguares and Agreste Litoral Sul - RN, aged between 18 and 30 years old, in
addition to data collection in academic observatories and civil society organizations on urban and rural
violence related to LGBTQIAPN+phobia. As the main findings of the research, it was observed that
the rural LGBTQIAPN+ suffer various forms of violence, which are often not notified, and are
naturalized by the conservatism of the family and the church. The desire and imagination to migrate
to a large metropolis to experience their identities is notorious. However, LGBTQIAPN+ who remain
in rural areas tend to strengthen and seek collective autonomy through social movements such as the
MST as a means of survival and resistance.