Levy Fidelix

Fidelix was born in the town of Mutum, Minas Gerais in 1951 to Jarbas Fidelix, a merchant who worked in the field of transportation, and Lecy Araújo, an educator.[3] He moved to Rio de Janeiro, then the capital of Brazil, and studied communication science at the Fluminense Federal University, but he did not graduate. He later became a journalist and professional advertiser.[4] Fidelix is a Roman Catholic.[5]

At the age of 24, he founded the advertising agency Staff Publicidade and also worked as a design director at Art&Som and Vogue Publicidade. As a journalist, he worked for Correio da Manhã and Última Hora, where he revised the Diário Oficial da União.[4]

Fidelix worked for the government as a communications assistant and created Agricultura Urgente, the first national bulletin of agriculture. Through Agricultura Urgente, he launched Brazil's first ecological campaign, which earned him a presidential medal. He co-founded the business magazine Governo e Empresa and the political magazine O Poder.[4] Around 1976, he was the chief communications officer of Estanave, a company related to Petrobras.

In 1982, he founded Interface, the first Brazilian magazine about informatics. In 1983, he moved to São Paulo, where he worked for two years as an anchorman for TV Informátika, a TV program about informatics, in which he interviewed specialists and politicians.[4]

On September 29, 2014, during a debate among candidates of the 2014 presidential election hosted by RecordTV, Levy Fidelix stated that homosexuals "need psychological care" and were better kept "well away from [the rest of] us". He also said that Brazil's population of 200 million would be reduced by half if homosexuality were encouraged because "the excretory system" does not function as a means of reproduction.[11] He was asked to apologize but refused, believing that his statements were not offensive.[12]

Fidelix's statements were condemned by opponents like Jean Wyllys (PSOL), Marina Silva (PSB), Aécio Neves (PSDB) and Dilma Rousseff (PT), who later won the election, as well as organizations such as ABGLT, the Green Party and even the Ministry of Human Rights. On the other hand, other notable conservative politicians, such as Jair Bolsonaro (PP) and religious personalities, like Silas Malafaia, declared their support for Fidelix.

On March 13, 2015, São Paulo's Court of Justice fined Fidelix with R$1 million for hate speech in his declarations.[13] The court lifted the fine on February 3, 2017[14] but imposed a revised fine of R$25,000 on February 22.[15]