Probably if you are not from Brazil or South American, maybe you don’t know the reputation of Paulista Avenue in Sao Paulo. This avenue is the main financial centre of Brazil. It was built in 1891 and, as the name suggests, is a tribute to Sao Paulo’s people. Shortly after it became the address of the major producers of coffee in Sao Paulo, which transformed the nearly 3 kilometers of road in a place full of palaces and mansions.

With the industrialization and growth of Sao Paulo, the avenue has gone through many transformations to be up to what is today, the most important symbol of Brazilian capitalism. It is located in one of the highest points within the city and you can see it from long distances. The skyline is unmistakable, especially at night. The reaction of Brazilians when they walk down there for the first time it is almost always the same: a mixture of admiration and intimidation.

It is a place full of symbols, as the MASP (Museum of Art of Sao Paulo), the most important Brazilian museum with a collection estimated at several billion dollars; another important symbol is the seat of FIESP (Federation of Industries the State of Sao Paulo), one the most important business organization in Brazil - is estimated that the value handled annually by companies that are part of FIESP is around USD 500 billion. In times of elections, the Avenida Paulista is even more agitated, as the most important politicians in Brazil are “forced” to walk it to raise funds for their campaigns. Finally, it is the synthesis of Brazilian capitalism.

MASP

Due to its importance, the municipal government allows only three events “close” this avenue in the year: the international marathon of San Silvestre, the reveillon and Gay Parade in Sao Paulo. No, you do not read wrong, the Gay Pride Parade!

The Gay Parade in Sao Paulo is the largest in the world. It happended in the last week of May and this year over 3 million people attended on Paulista Avenue to parade to the sound of electronic music, samba and other rhythms in this event already enshrined in Sao Paulo. There is a detail that I can not fail to mention. The gay parade in Sao Paulo is not exactly a “parade” because it is open to all. Anyone can join, and it is common to see entire families observing the millions of participants in this “carnaval” out of season.

Official data estimate that over 300 thousand tourists from around Brazil came to celebrate the sexual diversity in the largest metropolis in the country. And not only from Brazil, because this year who tried to travel from New York to Sao Paulo in that week almost couldn’t because all flights were full.

The internationalisation of this parade was even more evident this year because representatives of other countries were invited, as the founder of the gay movement in Jerusalem, Jerry Levinson, and the president of Moscow Pride, Nikolai Alekseev. Both were invited because they have many difficulties in their countries to achieve something like that and because they wanted to “understand” why the parade of Sao Paulo is so successful.

While I can not say with absolute certainty what are the factors to this parade be so successful, I have my theories. In Sao Paulo live approximately one million gays from all over Brazil. Although there is no specific research on this, it is clear that there is a migration process “gay” in Brazil because Sao Paulo is the capital of Brazilian diversity and is still seen as land of opportunities.

Another factor that can not disregard is the participation of the government. All spheres of government in any way contribute to the achievement of the parade, from security to sponsorship.

And finally come to that which I considered the most important factor to the success of the gay parade in Sao Paulo, the economic factor. The gay parade in Sao Paulo is the second event that brings more money into the city, the hotels get crowded, the malls too. The popular trade in the March 25 Street reported almost 700 thousand visitors in the days preceding the parade, with many people buying costumes and accessories for use in the parade. On the other hand, Oscar Freire Street in the Jardins (more valued neighborhood in Sao Paulo) get crowded too, as many wealthy gay travel throughout Brazil to acquire luxury goods like clothes of famous brands (Armani, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger). Money might not be able to buy happiness, but it makes much difference.

Store in Oscar Freire Street

Clearly it wasn’t like that at the beginning, but in recent years the parade has become an extremely profitable business. The bigger acceptance of gays in Sao Paulo didn’t magically happened because people began to accept the differences, but because the consumer / capitalist logic prevailed on the Christian / conservative logic. The gays are voracious consumers, then they should be treated as citizens, that is the logic of capitalism, especially here in Brazil, where respect is something you purchase.