By Yana Marull (AFP) May 2011
BRASILIA - The Supreme Court of Brazil, the largest Catholic world, acknowledged Thursday unanimously "stable union" for same-sex couples and granted them the same rights as heterosexual ones.
The ten judges unanimously decided that unmarried couples made up of people of the same sex are a "family reunion" and have the same rights as unions between men and women.
"Those who choose homoafectiva union can not be mixed in your citizenship , Camen judge said Lucia. "Nobody can be deprived of their rights by their sexual orientation," he said on his part Judge Ricardo Lewandowski.
The presiding judge asked Congress to govern the consequences of this decision.
"In the absence of a law passed by Parliament to regulate marriage and homosexual marriage, recognition of the Supreme is the best thing that could happen. It means that no judge can deny these rights" as a pension inheritance, extension of health benefits and adoption of children, told AFP the special judge Maria Berenice Dias.
This lawyer who has devoted years to the cause and chairs the Committee on Sexual Diversity Lawyers Guild of Brazil, explained that in this country, "the stable union rights are essentially the same as marriage because is recognized as a family entity. "
recalled that some gay couples had already gained the recognition of rights to more than 1,000 sentences that judges across Brazil have been proffered in recent years, but now the rule is clear and for all.
"Discrimination breeds hatred" said reporting judge Carlos Ayres Britto.
rights activists Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender appeared before the Supreme Federal Tribunal (STF).
"I hope this decision is an important step for further action and that the Senate follow the example of Argentina, which adopted the civil marriage for same-sex couples," he told AFP the president of the Grupo Gay da Bahia, Marcelo Cerqueira. Brazil organizes
years which is considered the biggest gay pride parade in the world, Sao Paulo, but "we are the number one country in murders, discrimination and violence against homosexuals," he said.
The request for judicial action in the supreme governor left Rio de Janeiro, Sergio Cabral, who claimed equal rights apply to all staff, and the Attorney General of Brazil. "When the state refuses to recognize homosexual marriage, sacrifice their rights," said the attorney general, Roberto Gurgel.
The Church opposed front. "Plurality is limitless," said the lawyer of the Conference of Bishops, Hugo José de Oliveira, who defended the union for men and women, as stated in the Constitution.
Bishops at the annual meeting in Sao Paulo criticized the decision. The Archbishop of Maringá (south), Anuar Battisti, considered to represent an "aggression front "the family", said the site G1.
"Several countries in the region are recognizing these rights", said the state attorney, Luiz Inacio Adams.
The Argentine Senate approved in 2010 a law that made this country the first in Latin America throughout its territory legalize gay marriage.
In Colombia, another country deeply Catholic, unmarried couples of the same sex are recognized as the same social rights, property and inheritance rights as heterosexual ones.
Uruguay in 2007 became the first country in Latin America to legalize civil unions for gay couples and two years later, in approving the adoption.
Copyright © 2011 AFP.
0 comments:
Post a Comment