Brazil court rules in favour of same-sex civil partnerships
Brazil's high court has ruled that same-sex civil partnerships must be recognised, a decision welcomed as a watershed by gay activists who also hope it will cool rising violence against homosexuals in Latin America's most populous nation.
The ruling, however, stopped short of legalising gay marriage in Brazil, which has more Catholics than any other country. The Catholic Church fought the measure.
In a vote late yesterday, all but one of the 11 Supreme Court justices backed civil union rights for same-sex couple. One justice abstained.
The court ruled that gay couples deserve the same legal rights as heterosexual pairs when it comes to alimony, retirement benefits of a partner who dies and inheritances, among other issues.
In Latin America, gay marriage is legal only in Argentina and Mexico City.
Same-sex civil unions granting some rights to homosexual couples are legal in Uruguay and in some states of Mexico outside the capital.
Colombia's Constitutional Court has granted same-sex couples inheritance rights and allowed them to add their partners to health insurance plans.
Brazil's ruling sets a judicial precedent that must be honoured by all public institutions, including notary publics where civil unions must be registered.
"This is a historic moment for all Brazilians, not just homosexuals. This judgment will change everything for us in society - and for the better," said Marcelo Cerqueira with the gay rights group Grupo Gay da Bahia. "Gays, lesbians and transsexuals will be recognised as being more human. We'll be more accepted by having our rights honoured."
Grupo Gay da Bahia said in a recent report that 260 gays were murdered in 2010 in Brazil, up 113% from five years ago, including recent high-profile cases that made headlines.
On April 5, the body of 16-year-old girl was found in a remote area of Brazil's Goias state. The father and brother of her teenage girlfriend were arrested. Less than two weeks later, security cameras captured the beating death of a 24-year-old transvestite in north-eastern Paraiba state.
Gay activist Mr Cerqueira said he hoped the ruling would be the start of an end to such violence.
"This ruling will help. The violence comes about because of impunity for those who commit it," Mr Cerqueira said. "When a country judges a case like this in favour of us, it will have an impact across the judicial and law enforcement sectors."
The request for the Supreme Court to recognise civil unions came two years ago from the Brazilian attorney general's office, largely because legislation that would give same-sex couples the rights enjoyed by married heterosexual couples has been stalled in Congress for more than a decade.
Brazil's constitution defines a "family entity" as "a stable union between a man and a woman".
But the attorney general's office argued the clause is only a definition and not a limitation, and thus the charter does not say a stable union can "only" be between a man and a woman.
The attorney general also argued that the constitution does not specifically forbid a civil union between people of the same sex - and that failing to recognise same-sex unions violates the charter's defences of human dignity and equality.
