Seems like Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has some beef again with the World Health Organization (WHO).
The president said that the organization encourages homosexuality and masturbation among young children. This his latest disagreement with the WHO after he repeatedly criticized the group’s advice on social distancing and other anti-COVID-19 measures.
Bolsonaro asserted this, without citing a source, in a Facebook post that has since been deleted.
“This is the World Health Organization whose advice on coronavirus some people want me to follow,” he posted on Wednesday.
“Should we follow their education policy guidelines, too? For children zero to four years old: satisfaction and pleasure when touching their bodies, masturbation… For children four to six years old: a positive gender identity… masturbation in early childhood, same-sex relations… Nine to 12 years old: first sexual experience.”
These allegations seemed to come from social media posts suggesting that the organization encourages such practices among young children.
Arthur Weintraub, an adviser to the Brazilian president, had earlier tweeted, “The WHO has guidelines recommending children zero to four years old be taught about ‘masturbation,’ ‘pleasure and enjoyment,’ ‘touching one’s body’ and ‘gender ideology.’ Is that right?”
Oms com diretrizes recomendando que crianças de 0 a 4 anos sejam ensinadas sobre “masturbação”, “prazer e diversão”, “tocar o corpo” e “ideologia de gênero”. Isso é correto???https://t.co/IZUdjRMTeC
— Arthur Weintraub (@ArthurWeint) April 29, 2020
It came with a link that led to what looks like a 2010 guide called “Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe,” published by Germany’s Federal Centre for Health Education and the WHO’s European office.
The guide briefly explained that young children are typically discovering their bodies, and tells parents and educators that behavior such as touching oneself and curiosity about sexuality are normal in kids. However, those aren’t the main focus of the guide.
Additionally, it does not call on them to encourage any of the behaviors mentioned by Bolsonaro.
The Brazilian president is sometimes dubbed as the “Tropical Trump.” Similar to his US counterpart, Bolsonaro is an avid social media user. He uses Facebook and Twitter to reach out to his core supporters.
Since the COVID-19 crisis started, he has often been in disagreement with the WHO.
He says social distancing measures are needlessly wrecking the economy over a coronavirus he compares to a “little flu,” and recently fired Health minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who was popular with his pro-confinement, pro-science handling of the crisis.
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