Clodovil Hernandes (; 17 June 1937 – 17 March 2009) was a Brazilian

fashion designer Fashion design is the Art (skill), art of applied arts, applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction, and natural beauty to clothing and its Fashion accessory, accessories. It is influenced by diverse cultures and different trends and has va ...

television presenter A television presenter (or television host, some become a "television personality") is a person who introduces or hosts television show, television programs, often serving as a mediator for the program and the audience. It is common for people ...

, and

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Hernandes made his debut of fame as a fashion stylist during the 60s and 70s, after which he was invited to work on television. His dedication and fame on television lasted for over 40 years and various television stations. In his political career, Hernandes was known for statements deemed inappropriate, often directed at other famous personalities. Among other controversies, he was accused of

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...

and

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

. Hernandes was the first openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

congressman in Brazil.

Biography

Hernandes was born on 17 June 1937, in Elisiário, and raised by a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

immigrant couple (Diego Hernández and Isabel Sánchez); he apparently never knew his biological parents. He had great affection for his adoptive mother, a Spanish immigrant from

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

. One of his projects in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

was to create the ''Dia da Mãe Adotiva'' (Adoptive Mother's Day) that would be celebrated on the third Sunday of May. Hernandes was educated in a

Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

; besides his native Portuguese, he could speak

(his parents' language) and

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Fashion stylist

Hernandes began his career as a stylist at age 16. In the 1960s he gained fame as a designer of

haute couture (; ; French for 'high sewing', 'high dressmaking') is the creation of exclusive custom-fitted high-end fashion design. The term ''haute couture'' generally refers to a specific type of upper garment common in Europe during the 16th to the ...

Television

In the 1980s Hernandes became a TV personality with appearances on

Rede Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto Marinho on 26 April 1965 ...

's " TV Mulher", one of the first Brazilian shows dedicated to the contemporary woman. His career as a TV presenter had its ups and downs throughout the 1990s. Although he had a strong female following, his explicit right-wing position and unstable relations with co-workers led to frequent job losses. After his breakthrough on ''TV Mulher'', Clodovil was fired from the female-oriented programme hosted by

Marília Gabriela Marília Gabriela Baston de Toledo (born 31 May 1948), best known as Marília Gabriela or just Gabi, is a Brazilian journalist, TV host, actress, writer, and former singer. Career Television hosting Marília began her journalist career in 1 ...

and sexologist/current

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

Brazilian Secretary of

Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure, and the Commerce, commercial activity of providing and supporting such travel. World Tourism Organization, UN Tourism defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as ...

Marta Suplicy Marta Teresa Smith de Vasconcellos Suplicy (; born 18 March 1945) is a Brazilian politician, sexologist and psychologist. She was Mayor of São Paulo from 2001 to 2004. She later served as the Brazilian Minister of Tourism between 14 March 2007 ...

. In 1982, when Walter Clark, Globo's former director general, was invited to become a director on the Rede Bandeirantes network, Clodovil hosted his programme. In the 1993 TV season, Clodovil hosted a show in

Rede Manchete Rede Manchete (; lit.: Headline Network; also known as TV Manchete or only Manchete) was a Brazilian television network that was founded in Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1983 by the Ukrainian-Brazilian journalist and businessman Adolpho Bloch. The ...

, however the network, based in

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...

, suffered a severe financial crisis and

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike in British English, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Working class, work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Str ...

as well as a suspension of part of its scheduled national broadcast. Adolpho Bloch regained control of the network by legal determination and Clodovil left the channel in the first days of May due to past differences with his ex-boss. In 2006 in São Paulo, Clodovil was depicted in a musical. He defended the preservation of Mata Atlântica in the

Ubatuba Ubatuba is a Brazilian municipality, located on the northeast coast, in the state of São Paulo. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of Vale do Paraíba e Litoral Norte. The population is 92,819 (2021 est.) in an area of 723.88 km2, of wh ...

region and minority rights in the lower house. His future project was ''Casa Clô'', a foundation attended by women not helped by official social assistance programmes. Clodovil trained as an actor and as a singer. He designed the evening gowns for

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and

Miss Universe Miss Universe is an annual international major beauty pageant that is run by a Thailand and Mexican-based Miss Universe Organization.Natalie Tadena (July 2, 2015"Donald Trump's Miss USA Pageant Lands on Reelz Cable Channel". ''The Wall Stree ...

Sandra Mara Ferreira and Sandra Guimarães de Oliveira. His controversial declarations on

Rede TV! RedeTV! (, also Rede TV! or RTV! or TV Ômega) is a Brazilian television network owned by Amilcare Dallevo and Marcelo de Carvalho. It is the newest television network, among the five major networks in Brazil, being a relaunch of Rede Manchete i ...

, caused legal consequences for Clodovil's artistic career. He was the presenter of ''Clodovil Por Excelência'' ''(Clodovil By Excellence)'' on the TVJB network, which was established in March 2007.

Views

In an interview with Rádio Tupi on 27 October 2006, Clodovil stated that Jews manipulated

the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

and forged the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. In the same interview, he referred to black people as "complex creoles." To defend his opinions, he told the radio that there is an "extinguished power, that is in the underground of things". According to Clodovil, "People are led to believe. When there was that incident with the Twin Towers there were no Americans and no Jews." The president of the Israeli Federation of Rio, Osias Wurman, declared himself outraged with the declarations, mainly because they came from a person coming from a minority that also undergoes prejudice. Wurman filed a court action against Clodovil, accusing him of being a racist, as well as sending copies of the audio interview to the State Department of Human Rights, state deputies and nongovernmental organizations linked to the black movement.

Congressman

In the 2006 elections, Clodovil Hernandes was elected federal

congressman A member of congress (MOC), also known as a congressman or congresswoman, is a person who has been appointed or elected and inducted into an official body called a congress, typically to represent a particular constituency in a legislature. The t ...

for the

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, being the third most voted congressman in his state, with 493,951 votes or 2.43% of the valid vote. He was a candidate for the

Christian Labour Party ''Agir'' ( ˈʒiɾ ) is a political party in Brazil, established in 1985. It was founded as the Youth Party (; PJ), and was renamed the National Reconstruction Party (, PRN) in 1989, and the Christian Labor Party (, PTC) in 2000. The party was ...

. His political phrase was: "Brasília will never be the same".
Clodovil favored legislation that banned toys resembling tobacco products, restricted violent images in television newscasts during family hours and reduced the number of congresspersons in the Brazilian parliament.

Death

Clodovil Hernandes died in

Brasília Brasília ( ; ) is the capital city, capital of Brazil and Federal District (Brazil), Federal District. Located in the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West Region, Brazil, Central-West region, it was founded by President Juscelino ...

at 18:50 BRT on 17 March 2009, at the age of 71, after a

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

Television career

* ''TV Mulher'' (Rede Globo, 1980 season) * '' Clô para os Íntimos'' (Rede Manchete, 1987-1988 seasons) * ''Noite de Gala'' ( CNT, 1993–1995) * ''Clô Soft'' (

Rede Bandeirantes Rede Bandeirantes (, ''Bandeirantes Network''), or simply known as Band (), is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It began broadcasting on May 13, 1967 on VHF channel 13 in São Paulo. Its founder was businessman :pt:João Saad, Jo ...

, 1996–1997) * ''A Casa é Sua'' (

, 2004–2005) * ''Clodovil Por Excelência ( Rede JB, soon on April season)

Political phrases

2006 campaign

* ''"Brasília will never be the same"''. * ''"I will not promise anything. I will report ny kind of corruptionthat comes directly to me"''.

Theatral career

* ''Elas por Elas'' (2006)

Notes

References

External links

Clodovil Hernandez's site
on Brazilian portal UOL {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandes, Clodovil Brazilian fashion designers Brazilian television presenters Brazilian gay politicians Gay Christians LGBTQ fashion designers LGBTQ members of the National Congress of Brazil Brazilian gay artists 1937 births 2009 deaths Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Brazil) from São Paulo Agir (Brazil) politicians Liberal Party (Brazil, 2006) politicians Brazilian LGBTQ broadcasters Fashion stylists 9/11 conspiracy theorists Brazilian Holocaust deniers Brazilian people of Spanish descent LGBTQ conservatism Brazilian gay entertainers 20th-century Brazilian LGBTQ people 21st-century Brazilian LGBTQ people Television controversies in Brazil