Jean Wyllys

Jean Wyllys
Jean Wyllys in 2010
Born	March 10, 1974 Alagoinhas, Bahia
Alma mater	Federal University of Bahia
Occupation	Professor, journalist, politician
Years active	2005-present
Political party	PSOL

Jean Wyllys (born Jean Wyllys de Matos Santos on March 10, 1974 in Alagoinhas, Bahia, Brazil) is a Brazilian lecturer, journalist and politician who rose to fame after winning the fifth season of Big Brother Brasil. He is also notable as being Brazil's second openly gay member of parliament.^[1] (Clodovil Hernandes was the first openly gay elected member of Parliament, but unlike Wyllys, Clodovil was not a gay rights activist, i.e. he was opposed to same-sex marriage.) ^[2]

Due to this, he has been compared to Harvey Milk, an early openly gay politician in the United States of America and iconic gay rights activist.^[1]

Life

Wyllys was born in Alagoinhas, in the north-eastern state of Bahia, one of seven children.^[1] His mother was a washerwoman and his father, a car painter who suffered from alcoholism.^[1] Wyllys attended a boarding school which gave him the opportunity to get a better education than the average child in his village. Wyllys later moved to Salvador and completed his degree in journalism at the Federal University of Bahia.^[1] He first rose to fame after becoming the finalist in the Brazilian reality television show, Big Brother Brasil. He was the first openly gay participant in the show, which caused a lot of controversy amongst fans and participants alike. Wyllys described his victory as being of "great political relevance [...] I said I was a homosexual and I still won the programme in a country that is homophobic."^[1]

Political career

In 2010 Wyllys was elected a federal MP, representing the Socialism and Freedom party.

References

1. Jean Wyllys, Brazil's first openly gay MP, takes fight to the religious right, Guardian, retrieved 27/1/2012
2. With about 500 thousand votes, Clodovil is the first gay elected for federal deputy (Portuguese)