Openly Gay Congressman Flees Brazil After Death Threats

Jean Wyllys, an openly gay congressman in Brazil, has revealed that he has been forced to quit his job and flee his home country because of the increasing number of death threats levelled against him, reports Sky News.

Wyllys reveals he was warned by his friend Jose Mujica, the former President of Uruguay, to “Be careful, man. Martyrs are not heroes.”

Wyllys was re-elected in October for a third term, but has received several threats to his life ever since his friend, the lesbian Rio de Janeiro councilwoman Marielle Franco, was murdered in March of last year.

“I don’t want to sacrifice myself,” Wyllys said. “For the future of this cause, I need to be alive. I do not want to be a martyr. I want to live.”

“We have done much for the common good. And we will do much more when the new time comes, no matter what we do by other means! Thank you to all of you with all my heart,” he wrote on twitter.

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