Abstract
In this article we analyze the “Maurício case”, a series of utterances that unfolded after the volleyball player Maurício Souza commented on a comic book image in which Superman’s son kisses another man. Looking at the practical uses of the categories “homophobia” and “freedom of speech”, we demonstrate how two competing ideas of democracy inform the debate, which we describe using a analytical term: “coalition”. We conceptualize coalitions as communicational structures that operate in contexts characterized by antagonisms, constituting positions of allies and enemies. Through coalitions we arrive at the two different epistemes that shape the debate: a pluralist one organized in the language of identity and for which democracy is validated by the inclusion of these differences (anti-Maurício); the other majorist and anti-pluralist (pro-Maurício), based on universalist categories, such as nation and God. We draw on material collected between October 2021 and January 2022, on social networks and news portals.
Keywords:
homophobia; democratic episteme; public debate; pluralism