Mark Ruffalo, the American Actor best known for his roles as Bruce Banner/the Hulk in The Avengers, Terry Prescott in You Can Count On Me and his Academy Award-nominated performance as Paul in The Kids Are Alright, has publicly withdrawn his support of Marina Silva, the Brazilian pro-environmentalist presidential candidate, according to a report on Bloomberg.com.
“I cannot, in good conscience, support a candidate who takes a hard right approach to issues such as gay marriage and reproductive rights, even if that candidate is willing to do the right thing on environmental issues,” the actor was quoted as saying. Ruffalo in a post on his Tumblr account said he was withdrawing his endorsement for Silva after finding out that her party had backtracked on full legal support for same-sex marriage. Ruffalo had posted a video on the web backing Silva, who is running on the Brazilian Socialist Party ticket.
Silva, who initially supported civil unions for same-sex couples, subsequently withdrew her support and participated in its removal from the Brazilian Socialist Party. The move was made, in large part, to assuage many of her Christian backers who adamantly refuse to support the issue.
Silva, who was for some time leading in the polls, has fallen behind the current president and same-sex marriage backer Dilma Rousseff. But her subsequent reversal – she now supports granting the same rights to all couples regardless of gender -has opened her up to charges of political opportunism. “It demonstrates wavering and that has exposed her,” David Fleischer remarked. Fleischer, a professor of politics at the University of Brasilia, is running third in the race.
An MDA poll published yesterday showed Silva trailing Rousseff with 38.7 percent against 47.7 percent for the incumbent in a second round. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points. Rousseff had 42 percent against Silva’s 41 percent in the previous poll, conducted Sept. 20-21.
For his part, Ruffalo added on his Tumbler account, “I have fought for marriage equality in my country and see it as a reflection of the quality of a candidate.” In the video showing support for Silva, Ruffalo said he identified with her views of a development model that integrated economic, environmental and social justice.
