The (Dis)embodiment of Décio Frota Escobar: Masculinities, Culture, and Subjectivities in Brazil (1969)

Abstract Book of the 5th International Conference on LGBT studies

Year: 2026

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The (Dis)embodiment of Décio Frota Escobar: Masculinities, Culture, and Subjectivities in Brazil (1969)

Paulo Vitor Guedes de Souza

ABSTRACT:

This proposal aims to analyze historical masculinities, culture, and the production of subjectivities through the murder of the artist, poet, and “former diplomat” Décio Frota Escobar, which occurred on April 17, 1969, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The case gave rise to criminal case no. 3811/1973, heard at the 14th Criminal Court of the State of Guanabara. From the meanings associated with death, I seek to reflect on the categories surrounding the (dis)embodiment of the victim. In this context, I highlight the presence of a piece of tracing paper covering his face when the body was found in his residence, bearing the words: “He was a faggot and died.” Beyond the cruelty of the message, it marks the victim’s supposed “homosexuality,” situating him in a position constructed as perverse and abnormal. Such details are important for imagining aspects that help give form to Décio’s life, while also allowing us to question and reflect upon the categorizations that mark culture and masculinities, as well as the processes of subjectivation and the production of subjectivities. Ultimately, the questions that emerge are: who was Décio Frota Escobar? Why was he murdered? Was it merely due to the hatred his perpetrators might have felt toward homosexuals? Through these questions, I seek not only to historicize the case, but also to complicate and expand issues that arise within a web of discourses and narratives that help us understand the ways in which they write, describe, and inscribe themselves in culture.

Keywords: Masculinities; Culture; Subjectivities; Violence; Brazil