Body of LGBT and land reform activist found burnt in the south of Brazil

25-year-old Lindolfo Kosmaski ran for the City Council in 2020. The MST deems his death a hate crime

May 06, 2021 by Brasil de Fato
Lindolfo Kosmaski was 25 years old, and he ran as a candidate to the City Council of São João do Triunfo in 2020. Photo: Rafael Stedile

The body of Lindolfo Kosmaski, an LGBT activist who worked with the Brazilian Landless Rural Workers’ Movement (MST) was found burnt on the night of Saturday May 1st, in São João do Triunfo, a city in the southern state of Paraná. The movement believes that the homicide was motivated by homophobia.

Kosmaski, who was 25 years old, ran as a candidate to the City Council of São João do Triunfo on the Worker’s Party (PT) ticket in 2020. A very active participant of the movement, particularly in the Landless LGBT Collective and the Agroecology Week, he was frequently present at the Contestado settlement, in the city of Lapa, Paraná, where he was pursuing a Degree in Education in the Countryside at the Latin American School of Agroecology (ELAA).

In the last year, he was working as a teacher in state schools in Paraná and studying to get a Master’s Degree at the Federal University of Paraná (UFPR), in the Science and Mathematics Education program.

In a statement, the movement mourned the death of Kosmaski: “At this painful time, the MST stands in solidarity with Lindolfo Kosmaski’s family and friends, and demands that the appropriate entities move quickly to investigate and find those responsible for this heinous crime.”

In the same document, the movement states that it will demand justice and punishment for the young man’s murderers. “The MST underlines its commitment to fight for a society without LGBTphobia and to build a world in which life and all types of love are fully protected. LGBT blood is also Landless blood.”