RSS
Home | LGBT rights | LGBT rights in Brazil
|
|
|
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Brazil may face legal challenges not experienced by non-LGBT residents. Both male and female same-sex sexual activity have been legal in Brazil since 1830, but same-sex couples and households headed by same-sex couples are not eligible for the same legal protections available to opposite-sex couples. In 2004, a statement from Brazilian judges said homosexual relationships existed and as such, deserved to be regulated by law. "Technically, this is not going to be called 'same-sex marriage' by the justice of the peace, but it is the equivalent," Tânia Bampi, a spokeswoman for the court administration, said. The ruling applies legal analogy giving same-sex couples broad rights in areas like inheritance, adoption, immigration benefits, in vitro fertilization, insurance benefits, pensions, and others. The list of of various LGBT rights in Brazil has expanded since the end of the military dictatorship in 1985, and the creation of the new Constitution of Brazil of 1988. In 2009, the Brazilian gay population was at 7.8% of males with bisexual population another 2.6% (for a total of 10.4%). The Brazilian lesbian population was 4.9% of females with bisexual women reaching 1.4% (for a total of 6.3%). According to the Guinness World Records, the São Paulo Gay Pride Parade is the world's largest LGBT Pride celebration, with 4 million people in 2009. For the first time, the Brazilian Census of 2010 (IBGE) will ask respondents if they are members of a same-sex relationship. Brazil has 300 active LGBT organizations. The Brazilian Programa Nacional de Direitos Humanos (National Program of Human Rights) (PNDH-3) enacted in 2009 is a legally binding national presidential decree of President Lula, that supports recognition of same-sex unions in Brazil, same-sex adoption in Brazil, and the criminalization of homophobia. The protests of the Brazilian church and the other groups were not considered, because of insistence on prevailing of the constitutional principle of human dignity. |
