A state judge in Sao Paulo has ruled in favor of what the court claims is Brazil’s first legal gay marriage.
Judge Fernando Henrique Pinto issued a decision Monday declaring that two men may convert their civil union into marriage, potentially paving the way for a change in the country’s current policy limiting official recognition of same-sex partnerships to civil unions alone. Attorneys for the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops led the offensive against same-sex marriage in the civil union case.
Pinto cited Brazil’s constitution in his ruling statement, noting that the document outlines the procedure for converting civil unions to legal marriages. However, as Sao Paulo state Attorney General Office spokesman Benjamin Polsatri stated to members of the Associated Press, it is not immediately clear if Pinto’s ruling will set a decisive national precedent.
At Pinto’s request, attorney Jose Luiz Bednarski of the Sao Paulo State Attorney General’s office offered an opinion confirming the legality of Monday’s ruling. Bednarski also cited the federal constitution in his statement, and noted that the Brazilian government “establishes as a fundamental objective…to promote the good of everyone without bias of gender or any other form of discrimination.”
So far, Argentina and Mexico City are the only Latin American locales to legalize gay marriage. Uruguay and some Mexican states permit same-sex civil unions with limited legal rights, and Columbia has in isolated cases granted gay and lesbian couples inheritance and insurance rights. In May of 2011, the Supreme Court of Brazil issued a ruling legalizing same-sex civil unions; and now Pinto’s may serve to accelerate same-sex marriage advocacy throughout the nation.
According to the local Globo television network website, the couple in question in the civil unions case –Sergio Kauffman Sousa and Luiz Andre Moresi – reacted to the ruling with “immense joy.”
“I’m still trying to comprehend this historic moment,” Moresi told sources at Globo’s G1 website. “I dedicate this victory to all the activists.”
Unfortunately, Moresi and Sousa’s legal triumph comes amidst a period of escalating anti-gay violence in Brazil – one in which murderous hate-crimes are up by nearly 113% since 2005.
