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Dottoré!

The Wrong Meaning Of "Homotransphobia"

Hatred cannot be cured.

Photo of a person taking medication

Taking "phobia" out of "homotransphobia"

Mariateresa Fichele

The term “homotransphobia” is not in any diagnostic manual of psychiatry. Phobias, like all pathologies, create suffering for those who are affected — and can be cured. Instead, the only ones who suffer from the effects of homotransphobia are its targets.

Those who are "afflicted" with this condition are people for whom prejudice and ignorance prevail; and when they act on the basis of this ignorance, they are criminals, not sick people.


For diseases there are therapies, and no need to create laws. Even with good intentions, Italian politicians called a proposed bill last year the "Law Against Homotransphobia." Using this word, they have granted hatred the dignity of pathology.


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Green Or Gone

“Who'll Stop The Rain?” Why Climate Anxiety Hits Harder In Brazil

Rain often brings deadly flooding and property damage to neighborhoods around Brazil, where people are organizing to address the worsening problem. But there is

Image of rescuers helping victims of mudslides that had catastrophic consequences on both infrastructure and citizens.

Rescuers saving the victims of devastating mudslides that swamped the Brazilian city of Petropolis last year near Rio de Janeiro.

Luize Sampaio

RIO DE JANEIRO — Cover the mirrors, turn off all the electrical appliances and call to find out where your child is. Listen to the sirens, the thunder, the roof swaying, and feel the fear of not knowing what to do.

These are familiar feelings for many in Brazil, who still remember rainy-day survival advice shared by parents and grandparents. In Rio de Janeiro, which has seen more than two-thirds of the deaths caused by environmental disasters in Brazil over the past decade, climate anxiety is very real.

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