Brazilian mayor Marcelo Crivella hogged the headlines of the national dailies and several other prominent media platforms across the world, after he sought an Avengers comic book to be banned because it depicted two men kissing.Pessoal, precisamos proteger as nossas crianças. Por isso, determinamos que os organizadores da Bienal recolhessem os livros com conteúdos impróprios para menores. Não é correto que elas tenham acesso precoce a assuntos que não estão de acordo com suas idades. pic.twitter.com/sFw82bqmOx— Marcelo Crivella (@MCrivella) September 5, 2019Crivella, a former evangelical pastor who is the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, ordered law enforcement agents to seize all the copies of Avengers: The Children’s Crusade, the comic that featured the kiss, from the International Book Fair. He said the books need to be packaged in black plastic and sealed, according to a translation by the New York Times. He also said “we must protect our children” against “sexual content”.Crivella’s call for a ban found support in the lower court but was overturned by Supreme Court Chief Justice Jose Dias Toffoli on Sunday. The country’s top court ruled that Crivella’s actions were illegal as they only targeted LGBT content. The court also made it illegal to ban any LGBT publication.Excerpt from the comic book “Avengers: The Children’s Crusade” Photo: O GloboPenned by well-known screenwriter Allan Heinberg and illustrated by Briton Jim Cheung, Avengers: The Children’s Crusade includes two members of the Young Avengers, Wiccano and Hulkling (a character patterned on the superhero Hulk), who happen to be in a relationship, Brazilian newspaper O Globo reported. It is these two characters locking lips that enraged the Rio de Janeiro mayor.According to the BBC, the Children’s Crusade series has been available in Brazil since 2012. The comic book in question has also been available for the past three years.Folha de S.Paulo, another national daily for Brazil, printed the image Crivellag objected to on their front page.Esta é capa da #Folha deste sábado (7). Acesse https://t.co/OUrEFevL3e para ler mais. #folha #folhadespaulo #fsp pic.twitter.com/wru197Gpzi— Folha de S.Paulo (@folha) September 7, 2019Despite Crivella’s attempts and public appeal to ban the Marvel comic book’s sale, event organisers refused to comply with the mayor’s antics, as reported by The Independent. They also filed a preventative injunction with the Rio de Janeiro Court of Justice. They argued such behaviour and a call for a ban flies against the freedom of expression. Federal attorney-general Raquel Dodge also supported the organisers’ plea, ABC News reported.Notably, this is not the first time Crivella has made news for his take on homosexuality. In his 1999 book, Evangelizing Africa, he garnered criticism for calling homosexuality a “terrible evil”.Brazil’s politicians have also employed anti-homosexual rhetoric in the past. In 2018, before ascending to the presidency, Jair Bolosonaro advocated for the reversal of rights for same-sex couples and had previously described himself as a “proud homophobe”. Furthermore, he had criticised the decision by the Supreme Court to make homophobia a crime and proposed that an evangelical Christian must be brought to the bench.Brazil is a preferred destination for LGBTQ tourism, as the country has many events – carnivals and parades – marketed at the community. Bolsonaro has expressed opposition at this idea, saying Brazil should not become a gay destination since “we have families”.Also read: How LGBTQ People are Resisting Bolsonaro’s Brazil Through ArtDespite the controversy raked up by politicians, sales of the comic book remain unaffected. According to reports, the comic sold out at the book fair. Moreover, the popular comedian Felipe Neto, one of the most famous YouTube personalities from Brazil, said that he would distribute thousands of books with LGBTQI characters at the book festival. He added that the books would be red-labelled quoting that they were “inappropriate for backward, retrograde and prejudiced people”, reported New York Times.To support the organisers and comic creators, publishing house Faro on Saturday put up a stand at the festival with a banner “Books That Are Forbidden by Crivella”. The stall was said to feature a host of books on a variety of LGBTQI issues. The stand was a crowd favourite, O Globo reported.Nidhima Taneja is an editorial intern at The Wire.