The Supreme Court of Brazil has recognized gay civil unions (although not “marriage”) in deciding two lawsuits brought by the state government of Rio de Janeiro and by the Ministério Público, the Brazilian body of independent public prosecutors.
In a 10-0 vote, with one abstention, the justices said 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. The ruling, however, stopped short of legalising gay marriage. …. Brazil’s ruling sets a judicial precedent that must be honoured by all public institutions, including notary publics [sic] where civil unions must be registered.
Oh, and the 11th justice apparently abstained because he had previously spoken in favor of same-sex unions when he was Attorney-General.
Of course, it’s not all caipirinhas and tighty-whitey undies:
Among the dead, [there were] 140 gay men (54%), 110 transvestites (42%) and 10 lesbians (4%). Brazil confirms its position as the world champion of murders of homosexuals: in the United States, which has 100 million more people than our country, in 2010, 14 murders of transvestites were reported, while in Brazil, there were 110. The risk of a homosexual being murdered in Brazil is 785% higher than in the United States.
Given its huge religious population, long history of internal conflict and torrid political divisions, it’s not surprising that it taken Brazil so long to catch up with the the Land of the Free and the Brave in granting its gay and lesbian citizens equal parity with all of its other citizens.
[Jacques-Louis David (1748-1825) – Male Nude known as Patroclus]Edited for additional snarkiness.
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason
Wait, doesn’t Glenn Greenwald live in Brazil a substantial portion of the year? And Brazil recognizes same-sex relationships for visa and immigration purposes–something that the US doesn’t even do yet. So maybe the harsh depiction of their attitude toward gay citizens isn’t all it seems at first glance.
Yutsano
There’s a story here…please tell me it somehow involves either Evita or Pinochet.
The Main Gauche of Mild Reason
@Yutsano:
Wrong dictatorships: Argentina and Chile.
Brazilian Rascal
Native input here. As with Carnival, the exuberant openness of brazilian society can (and often does) serve as cover for a more…dualistic (i.e, hypocritical) reality.
In _theory_ brazilians have a live-and-let-live attitude regarding sexual mores. That can change on a dime if personal pride or image is disturbed. Mostly in the “I am for gay marriage, but if a gay guy makes eyes at me at a bar and my buddies laugh at me, that fag is DEAD!” way, but not exclusively.
As a recent incident involving a congressperson (Jair Bolsonaro) revealed, there is a sizable minority proud of their open distaste for ‘deviants’, and eager to punish and scapegoat them. Gay and transexual sex workers are usually double caught: they are more easily and cruelly exploited by criminal and also receive less support from the police and society in general. Nobody cares if they are tortured or killed.
Yutsano
@The Main Gauche of Mild Reason: Well yeah, but before they were criminals they did occasionally travel to the other South American nations. I’m trying to inspire the spark of memory here.
Malron aka eclecticbrotha
@The Main Gauche of Mild Reason: Or, maybe Greenwald really is the hypocrite a lot of us suggest he is.
enplaned
Don’t you mean “surpass” rather than “catch up”? The US doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage rights across the country — far from it.
Sarah Proud and Tall
@enplaned:
I think your sarcasm detectors may need recalibrating.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
she’s a b.r.i.c. house, get down, tonight!
Sarah Proud and Tall
You guys just can’t stop yourselves bitching about Greenwald, can you?
Yutsano
@Sarah Proud and Tall: It’s more of a sickness than a disease.
Sarah Proud and Tall
10 lousy replies, and no love for either Stan Getz or Patroclus’ butt.
Bastards.
Anne Laurie
@Brazilian Rascal:
It sounds like a variation of an old, bad ‘joke’ us Americans used to tell each other about racism: Northerners didn’t mind how high(prosperous, politically connected) their African-American fellow citizens got, as long as they didn’t get too close. Southerners didn’t mind how close African-Americans got, as long as they didn’t get too high.
So, Brazillians don’t mind how ‘legal’ gays get, as long as they’re not ‘close’ (being or ‘acting’ gay in the presence of straight men); while Americans don’t mind how close gays get (“Some of my best friends…!”) as long as they don’t get too legal (and ask for the same civil protections as their neighbors).
bk
@Sarah Proud and Tall: I’ve been humming “The Girl From Ipanema” ever since I saw the title to the post.
Gozer
@Sarah Proud and Tall: As a matter of fact I’m currently listening to the Stan Getz album “Captain Marvel”. The song “La Fiesta” to be precise.
BattleCat
I feel like, I dunno, gay people should band together, like conspiracy theorists and old world builders did in the old days.
I mean, you know, just set up a guild and shit. Hand out cards and everything, and then, when somebody starts some trouble, a member can hit up the phone tree and some other gay people get there in minutes and then, it’s like, the gay-bashers gotta ask themselves, “Am I a bad enough dude to fight 300 gay people at once?”
Plus, they can have secret meetings, and wear special colors or uniforms to show that they’re not to be messed with. Then you gotta respect them, or they’ll beat the tar out of you.
It sounds like a pretty good idea to me, and its a lot better than being punched in the face and killed.
Gina
@BattleCat: Winning. That’s the world I want to live in.
Splitting Image
All too true, and not only in Brazil.
This issue has been making legal strides in North America so quickly that it’s sometimes easy to forget that actual people’s attitudes haven’t necessarily been changing as fast.
Progress is progress though. A great day for Brazil.
gex
I’m telling you. The “No Jesus, No Peace” stickers I keep seeing more and more of indicate that they do indeed consider this a war. I fully expect the big money coffers of Big God and the Conservatives/Libertarians who can profit from sowing discord to keep fighting gay rights here well after majorities favor it. They did a great job with the Constitutional Amendments because we need to get super majorities to overturn them, or the USSC. Who here think’s Scalia would recuse himself from the case with the same integrity we saw in Brazil.
No Jesus, No Peace. Sigh.
Peter J
The risk of getting murdered in Brazil is 500% higher than in the United States. (In 2010 there were 25.2 intentional homicides per 100,000 in Brazil and in 2009 there were intentional homicides per 100,000 in the United States.)
Which would mean that if Brazil and the US had the same murder rates, the risk to be murdered if you’re gay or a transvestite would be 57% higher, not 785%…
RedKitten
That’s why I have absolutely NO patience for these right-wing Christianists who bleat about being “persecuted” just because they’re not allowed to do/say whatever they damn well please and not be challenged on it.
Matthew Shephard was persecuted.
A Christian whose kid goes to a public school that doesn’t have prayer anymore?
Um, no. Not even close. So STFU with the “persecution” talk, already.
Peter J
Fixed.