BRASILIA, 6 May. The Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF) has accepted the legality of homosexual unions, with ten judges vote and one abstention. Brazil thus became the second Latin American country to adopt this type of civil unions, after Argentina did so in 2010. Following this ruling, homosexual unions have passed the same legal status as heterosexual, to be considered equally as a "household." So too can benefit from inheritances, pensions, freedom from attachment of the matrimonial home, the registration of Social Security and health programs, authorized to perform risky surgery and the division of property upon separation.
The text, collected by the Agency of Brazil, notes that the recognition of such unions is necessary to protect the rights of minorities and to prevent violence. In this line, the judge rapporteur, Carlos Ayres Britto, has stressed that the Civil Code must be construed in accordance with the principles of liberty and equality under the Constitution.
As Britto, Luiz Fux judges, Carmen Lúcia, Ricardo Lewandowski, Joaquim Barbosa, Gilmar Mendes, Ellen Gracie, Marco Aurélio Mello, Celso de Mello and voted Cezar Peluso, while Antonio Dias Toffoli abstained, arguing that his work in front of the Judge Advocate General of the Union (AUG) prevented him from participating in this decision for their ties to the group.
However, three of the judges - Lewandowski, Mendes and Peluso - have expressed some reservations about the scope of the decision. In his view, the STF has barely fill a gap in the law, so have asked Congress to draft a law to regulate the effects of this recognition. This resolution reflects the petition filed by the state of Rio de Janeiro (southeast) and the Attorney General to court to shed light on homosexual unions, after several lower courts decide cases contradictory.
Accordingly, this ruling leaves some loose fringes, as is manifested only on the issues raised in the earlier rulings. Thus, issues remain in the air as the possibility that these couples can marry in a civil or they can adopt children. REACTIONS TO THE DECISION OF STF reactions to this sentence was not long in coming.
Organizations defending the rights of homosexuals have welcomed the news, while the Catholic Church in Brazil has expressed its disagreement. The director of the Committee on Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Nascimento, stressed that with this decision the country forward in its commitment to treating all citizens equally, regardless of their sex.
"It's a historic day for Brazil," said Nascimento, while he pointed out that "the degree of civilization of a country can be measured by how people treat their gay community," according to the newspaper O Globo. For its part, the Catholic Church in Brazil has expressed its opposition to the ruling, considering that the only marriage recognized by the Constitution is heterosexual.
"The plurality has its limits," he underlined Hugo José de Oliveira, a lawyer for the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB). 
The text, collected by the Agency of Brazil, notes that the recognition of such unions is necessary to protect the rights of minorities and to prevent violence. In this line, the judge rapporteur, Carlos Ayres Britto, has stressed that the Civil Code must be construed in accordance with the principles of liberty and equality under the Constitution.
As Britto, Luiz Fux judges, Carmen Lúcia, Ricardo Lewandowski, Joaquim Barbosa, Gilmar Mendes, Ellen Gracie, Marco Aurélio Mello, Celso de Mello and voted Cezar Peluso, while Antonio Dias Toffoli abstained, arguing that his work in front of the Judge Advocate General of the Union (AUG) prevented him from participating in this decision for their ties to the group.
However, three of the judges - Lewandowski, Mendes and Peluso - have expressed some reservations about the scope of the decision. In his view, the STF has barely fill a gap in the law, so have asked Congress to draft a law to regulate the effects of this recognition. This resolution reflects the petition filed by the state of Rio de Janeiro (southeast) and the Attorney General to court to shed light on homosexual unions, after several lower courts decide cases contradictory.
Accordingly, this ruling leaves some loose fringes, as is manifested only on the issues raised in the earlier rulings. Thus, issues remain in the air as the possibility that these couples can marry in a civil or they can adopt children. REACTIONS TO THE DECISION OF STF reactions to this sentence was not long in coming.
Organizations defending the rights of homosexuals have welcomed the news, while the Catholic Church in Brazil has expressed its disagreement. The director of the Committee on Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Rio de Janeiro, Claudio Nascimento, stressed that with this decision the country forward in its commitment to treating all citizens equally, regardless of their sex.
"It's a historic day for Brazil," said Nascimento, while he pointed out that "the degree of civilization of a country can be measured by how people treat their gay community," according to the newspaper O Globo. For its part, the Catholic Church in Brazil has expressed its opposition to the ruling, considering that the only marriage recognized by the Constitution is heterosexual.
"The plurality has its limits," he underlined Hugo José de Oliveira, a lawyer for the National Conference of Brazilian Bishops (CNBB).
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