This message from Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was published today on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic on the Internet.

"Although we have been witnessing signs of progress, all over the world, discrimination and exclusion due to sexual orientation and gender identity persist, and are the cause of suffering for many and many, among us".

For the President of the Republic, "if discrimination persists, whether in privacy, including within the family, whether in the public space, at school, in health, at work, it is urgent to develop and support political efforts to combat discrimination against people LGBTQIA+".

"And that we don't forget the way we treat those around us", he adds.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who a year ago also marked the International Day to Combat Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia, takes advantage of this date to argue that it is necessary to build "a country where there is no place for any form of discrimination".

"Millions of people live in countries where homosexuality is illegal," he says.

The head of state expresses the wish that "this day gives expression to the hope for a more inclusive, more open country, without hatred and without violence".