Brazilian drag queen makes Time Magazine's 'Next Generation Leader'list

Time magazine on Thursday named a top Brazilian drag queen and LGBT+ advocate as one of 10 young people “changing the world” in its biannual list. Pabllo Vittar, a 24-year-old Brazilian drag pop singer, was included alongside other rising stars from around the world such as rapper Stormzy in Time’s roster of “Next Generation Leaders.” Vittar “has established herself as someone to watch on many fronts...using her platform as a musical star to demand equality for LGBT communities in Brazil and beyond,” the U.S. magazine said.

The drag performer, who identifies as gay and genderfluid, has become something of an internet sensation in recent years, racking up half a billion Spotify streams and a billion YouTube views as well as garnering nine million Instagram followers. Vittar has also collaborated with major international artists like Charli XCX and Major Lazer, whose popular song “Sua Cara” featuring Vittar was nominated for a Latin Grammy award last year - a first for a drag artist.

The young Brazilian’s prominence has become particularly significant since the election last year of President Jair Bolsonaro, who once described himself as a “proud” homophobe and has taken steps to clamp down on LGBT+ expression. “I feel really ashamed to be a Brazilian sometimes because of this president,” Vittar told Time. “People are dying. People are having their homes and rights taken away,” she said.

While its Supreme Court ruled in June that homophobia and transphobia are crimes, Brazil remains a deeply religious country where both the Catholic Church and the popular evangelical Christian movement frequently criticize gay rights. It is also one of the world’s deadliest countries for LGBT+ people, with 320 gay and trans people murdered there last year, according to watchdog group Grupo Gay da Bahia. LGBT+ rights campaigners welcomed Time’s announcement as coming at a particularly precarious time.