Abstract
The article analyzes the relationship between the Brazilian homosexual movement and institutional policy in the transition period, focusing on campaigns in defense of gay cause launched by the Workers’ Party (PT, in Portuguese) in the 1982 elections. The argument is that the homosexual movement, the end of the cycle of protests for democracy, did not go into decline, but remained mobilized the party and electoral arena. The traffic towards institutional policy was favored by the political opportunities offered by the Brazilian transition: the 1979 Party Reform, the renewal of the left, the foundation of the PT, the 1982 elections to and circulation of activists both in transnational networks as between social movements and political parties. In the end, the article argues that the experience accumulated in the 1982 elections favored the adoption, by the movement, of more institutionalized frames and repertoires of collective action.
Keywords:
social movements; institutional politics; Brazilian homosexual movement; political transition; Workers Party; elections of 1982