David Miranda, Brazilian journalist and the first LGBTQ member of the Rio de Janeiro City Council, has died at the age of 37.  The news was announced by his husband, journalist Glenn Greenwald, Tuesday. 

Rio de Janeiro, May 10 (RHC)-- David Miranda, Brazilian journalist and the first LGBTQ member of the Rio de Janeiro City Council, has died at the age of 37.  The news was announced by his husband, journalist Glenn Greenwald, Tuesday. 

Miranda had spent nine months in intensive care after being hospitalized last August for a severe gastrointestinal infection. 

Tributes to Miranda, who also served in Brazil’s Congress, poured in following the news, with Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva noting his “extraordinary trajectory.” 

Miranda, born in a favela and orphaned at the age of five, continued to fight for Brazil’s poor and the LGTBQ community, which came under renewed attack during the presidency of Jair Bolsonaro. 

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden also paid tribute to Miranda, celebrating his courage and righteousness in helping bring his leaked documents to light in 2013. 

Miranda was notably detained for nine hours at London’s Heathrow Airport but refused to cooperate with authorities.  Snowden wrote: “It was that courage that set him free.” 

Miranda is survived by his husband and their two children.