Brazil, South America

Brazil is the fifth largest country by geographical area, occuping nearly half of South America, the fifth most populous country, and the fourth most populous democracy in the world. In 1830, Dom Pedro I signed into law the Imperial Penal Code eliminating all references to sodomy. As of 2003, discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation was prohibited in 73 municipal statutes, including São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and three state constitutions. Same-sex civil unions have been established at the state level in the State of Rio Grande do Sul. A court decision has been pending since 2005 on legalizing marriage nationwide.

Despite some positive laws, research done in 2005 found that 65% of the homosexuals interviewed in that year's São Paulo Gay Pride Parade said that they were victims of hate speech and/or suffered physical aggression. In mid-2006, Brazil launched Brazil Against Homophobia, a campaign against homophobia within the country including TV advertisement and billboards. The first adoption in Brazil by a same-sex couple was by a lesbian couple from Rio Grande do Sul. In May 2011 Brazil's Federal Surpeme Court ruled unanimously (10 to 0) that Civil Unions are legally acceptable relationships between adult citizens of the same gender.  Read more about gay rights.

 

News & Reports:

 

French parliament bans LGBT+ conversion therapy

Countries including Brazil and Malta have already moved to ban practices that seek to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity Dec 14 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – France’s parliament voted on Tuesday to ban so-called conversion therapy, joining a handful of countries that have taken steps to outlaw practices that seek to change a… Read more »

The “Deviant” African Genders That Colonialism Condemned

European travellers and anthropologists found that their gendered worldview didn’t easily map onto the societies they encountered. In “pre-colonial times,” wrote the late feminist scholar Niara Sudarkasa, women in West Africa were “conspicuous in high places.” They led armies, often played important consultative roles in politics, and in the case of the Lovedu people (present-day… Read more »

Openly Trans Candidates Elected To City Councils Across Brazil In ‘Historic’ Election

ToplineBrazil is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for transgender people, but Sunday’s local elections have given LGBTQ activists and allies hope as an unprecedented number of openly transgendered candidates won seats on their local city councils. Key Fact Two transgender candidates, Erika Hilton and Thammy Miranda, were elected to the city… Read more »

Brazil Celebrates Gay Pride And Favorable Supreme Court Ruling

Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians turned out in Sao Paulo to mark gay pride with a huge parade, after the president criticized a Supreme Court ruling making homophobia a criminal act. Steve Inskeep, Host: The new president of Brazil has been in office a little less than six months. Many people saw the election of… Read more »

Brazil Celebrates Gay Pride And Favorable Supreme Court Ruling

Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians turned out in Sao Paulo to mark gay pride with a huge parade, after the president criticized a Supreme Court ruling making homophobia a criminal act. Steve Inskeep, Host: The new president of Brazil has been in office a little less than six months. Many people saw the election of… Read more »

Brazil’s sole openly gay congressman leaves country after death threats

Jean Wyllys said he was currently outside of the country and had no plans to return after a growing number of threats in past year Brazil’s first and only openly gay congressman has announced that he is leaving his job – and the country – after receiving death threats. In a newspaper interview on Thursday,… Read more »

Brazil’s new president strips LGBTI rights on his first day in office

It was one of his first actions after his inauguration Brazil’s new president, Jair Bolsonaro, has stayed true to his word and signed executive orders targeting the LGBTI community. The ‘proud homophobe’ used his first day in office to sign the orders. They will affect the LGBTI community, indigenous groups and descendants of slaves. Just… Read more »

Gay Couples Rush to Wed Before Brazil’s New President Takes Office

Sao Paulo, Brazil — Just hours after Jair Bolsonaro won Brazil’s presidential election in a landslide victory for conservatives, Carolina Zannata and her girlfriend called the closest public notary and set a date for their wedding. Gay marriage has been legal in Brazil since 2013, and Ms. Zannata said she and Aline Foguel had not… Read more »

2018 is turning into the most deadly for LGBTI people in Brazil

More than 300 people have been killed this year, the highest number yet in Brazil The rate of murders and violence against LGBTIs in Brazil has jumped likely making 2018 the most deadly year ever. More than 300 people have already been murdered this year, by this time last year, 220 LGBTIs had been killed.… Read more »

In pictures: Expelled for being gay

Brazilian photographer Nayara Leite has been exploring the lives of six Brazilian homosexuals who were expelled from their homes when they told their families they were gay. Leite asked them to send her a happy photograph of them as a child, which she then burnt – an act she feels reflects the rejection they had… Read more »

São Paulo’s gay pride parade – in pictures

Hundreds of thousands of people have gathered in Brazil’s largest city for its 22nd annual celebration. Waving rainbow flags in a Carnival-like atmosphere, marchers paraded down the skyscraper-lined Avenida Paulista on Sunday to music blasting from 18 sound trucks, with revellers of all ages filling more than 10 city blocks A striking costume and rainbow… Read more »

Thousands revel in Brazil’s gay pride parade

Sao Paulo — Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in Brazil’s largest city Sunday for its 22nd gay pride parade, which is considered one of the world’s biggest. Waving LGBT rainbow flags in a Carnival-like atmosphere, marchers paraded down Sao Paulo’s skyscraper-lined Avenida Paulista to music blasting from 18 sound trucks. Revelers of all ages,… Read more »

In Brazil, soccer has been mainly a straight guy’s sport. A new gay league is changing that.

Rio De Janeiro — Douglas Braga left his home in rural southeastern Brazil when he was 12, moving to Rio de Janeiro to pursue the Brazilian dream and become a professional soccer player. Training up to eight hours a day, he had to drop out of high school. He turned professional when he was 16,… Read more »

Thousands protest ruling to overturn ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for gays and lesbians in Brazil

Thousands of demonstrators gathered in downtown Sao Paulo on Friday to protest a court’s recent decision to overturn an 18-year ban on conversion therapy meant to “cure” gay people. Chants of “it’s not a disease” could be heard over songs including Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” as protesters flew rainbow flags and held banners demanding… Read more »

Brazil legalises ‘gay cure’ therapy as court rules homosexuality is a disease

Brazil has re-legalised so-called “gay cure therapy” as a judge deemed homosexuality to be a “disease”. Judge Waldemar Claudio de Carvalho overruled a 1999 resolution by the Federal Council of Psychology which prohibited the treatment of homosexuality by psychologists. The federal judge in Brasília ruled in favour of a psychologist whose license was revoked for… Read more »

Big Crowd Turns out for Colorful Gay Pride Parade in Rio

Tens of thousands of people have celebrated at Rio de Janeiro’s annual gay pride parade at Copacabana beach. Under a blazing sun, revelers wearing feathery costumes and wigs held up rainbow flags and danced along the promenade Sunday as music blasted from a half dozen sound trucks. Organizers said this year’s parade was focusing on… Read more »

Brazilian squatters offer shelter from anti-gay violence

A multi-colored gay pride flag hangs in a corner of a bare room in an abandoned Sao Paulo art deco building that was once the headquarters of Brazil’s social security agency. The room is home to several members of Brazil’s lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community seeking refuge from discrimination and hate crimes against LGBT… Read more »

More Openly Gay Olympians Than Ever, but No Chinese Among Them

Beijing — Peng Yanhui is celebrating the fact that a record number of openly gay athletes are taking part in the Olympics, while ruing that none are from China. Fifty-two competitors and coaches who are openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or intersex are participating in the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, according to figures… Read more »

Brazil Is Confronting an Epidemic of Anti-Gay Violence

Rio De Janeiro — The assailant struck as Gabriel Figueira Lima, 21, stood on a street two weeks ago in a city in the Amazon, plunging a knife into his neck and speeding off on the back of a motorcycle, leaving him to die. A few days earlier, in the coastal state of Bahia, two… Read more »

European Union gives €500,000+ to help LGBTI people in Brazil start their own businesses

Micro Rainbow International secures funding through the European Union for a three-year project to help lift LGBTI people in Brazil out of poverty Not-for-profit social enterprise Micro Rainbow International (MRI) has announced that is has received funding from the European Union for a three-year project to help alleviate poverty among the LGBTI communities in Brazil.… Read more »

Report: 594 LGBT people murdered in Americas during 15-month period

A report the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights released on Wednesday indicates anti-LGBT violence claimed the lives of at least 594 people in the Western Hemisphere between Jan. 1, 2013, and March 31 of this year. More than half of these reported deaths during this 15-month period took place in Brazil. These include an 8-year-old… Read more »

Brazil: Schoolboys wear skirts in protest after trans girl fined for wearing female uniform

A group of boys at a Brazil school have donned skirts, after a transgender girl was fined by teachers for wearing the “incorrect” uniform. 17-year-old Maria Muniz, who recently came out as trans at São Cristóvão do Colégio Pedro II, was disciplined by teachers and handed a fine after she wore a skirt to school,… Read more »

Brazil gay rights advocates call for ban on discrimination in large annual parade

Sao Paulo – Gay rights advocates called for a Brazilian law against discrimination as they gathered by the hundreds of thousands in Sao Paulo on Sunday for one of the world’s largest gay pride parades. The city blocked its main central avenue to allow room for colorful floats and exuberant crowds of people dressed as… Read more »

Rio De Janeiro Hosts Mass Gay Wedding For 130 Couples

AFP – A total of 130 couples said “I do” in a mass wedding at Rio de Janeiro’s Superior Court of Justice, marking the city’s first gay civil marriages. In mid-May, Brazilian courts determined that public offices that oversee marriages cannot reject gay couples, even though Brazil’s national congress has passed no law on the… Read more »

Rio de Janeiro hosts world’s largest legal gay mass wedding

132 same-sex couples were legally married Sunday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in what is believed to be the world’s largest mass same-sex wedding The ceremony was held in the auditorium of the School of Magistrates of Rio de Janeiro. Each of the 132 couples were able to invite up to ten family members and… Read more »

Brazilian Group To Protest Pope Francis With Gay Kiss-In

A group in Rio de Janeiro is expected to protest Pope Francis’ stance on gay rights with a kiss-in. Francis on Monday will arrive in Brazil, where he will be participating in World Youth Day, a weeklong event that celebrates the contributions of young Roman Catholics. “I am arriving in Brazil in a few hours… Read more »

Queer Girl City Guide: São Paulo, Brazil

São Paulo is the kind of city that locals love to hate; like any metropolis in the world, you’ll want to scream during rush hour, complain about the crowds (the population is a little over 11 million), whine about the parking prices and cost of living. However, once you take a deep breath and remind… Read more »

Brazil’s Evangelicals launch new gay marriage protest

Thousands of evangelical Christians rallied in Brasilia to protest against a legal ruling allowing gay marriage and against an anti-homophobia bill they said limits freedom of expression. It was the second such demonstration in less than two weeks to defend “the traditional family” and oppose abortion and homosexuality. Wednesday’s Brasilia protest was called by Pastor… Read more »

Brazil judicial panel clears way for gay marriage

Rio De Janeiro — A top judicial panel cleared the way for same-sex marriage in Brazil Tuesday, ruling that gay couples could not be denied marriage licenses. The National Council of Justice, which oversees the Brazilian judicial system and is headed by the chief justice of the Supreme Court, said government offices that issue marriage… Read more »

Brazil Allows In Vitro For Gay Couples

Brasilia, Brazil – Brazil is guaranteeing homosexual couples’ right to access assisted fertilization. The wording of the an earlier decree governing who has the right to use such techniques was vague, and some courts here had blocked gay couples from using in-vitro fertilization and other assisted fertilization methods in the past. The new decree stipulates… Read more »

Two more Brazil states pass gay marriage

Paraíba and Santa Catarina have become the 13th and 14th states to legalize equal marriage, meaning 60% of Brazilians can get married without going through the two-step process Santa Catarina and Paraíba have become the 13th and 14th states to approve the right to marry to same-sex couples. As Freedom to Marry notes, this means… Read more »

Brazil priest sacked over pro gay message

Brazilian Father Roberto Francisco Daniel was excommunicated from the Catholic Church who accused him of sin and hersey after he posted a pro-gay YouTube message A Catholic priest in São Paulo state, Brazil was excommunicated after resigning from his duties to protest against the church’s anti-gay stance. ‘Father Roberto Francisco Daniel can no longer celebrate… Read more »

LGBT-inclusive Pentecostal churches growing in Brazil

Communities offer rare combination of spiritual orthodoxy, social inclusivity and local culture — but not without critics. Rio De Janeiro — Last fall, the Rev. Marcio Retamero was invited to testify before members of the Brazilian congress, where he talked about human rights generally and the rights of sexual minorities in particular. His subsequent run-in… Read more »

Regional Dialogues on the new UN resolution on SO&GI and human rights: The Brasilia Meeting

From April 2nd to 5th, 2013 activists from more than 20 Latin American countries met in Brasilia, Brazil, to discuss the results and further steps resulting from the Resolution presented by South Africa on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity and Human Rights and adopted by the Human Rights Council in 2011. This meeting is part… Read more »

One gay Brazilian murdered every 26 hours in 2012

Grupo Gay da Bahia, a gay rights group in Brazil, releases startling figures for homophobic killings that took place in the Latin American country last year Once again, activists claim Brazil has the world’s highest occurrence of homophobic murders. Brazilian LGBT rights group Grupo Gay da Bahia has released a breakdown of gay-related murders for… Read more »

Brazil elects racist, anti-gay pastor to be human rights boss

Marco Feliciano, a racist, evangelical, pastor and congressman who thinks gays are ‘sick’, has been elected to head Brazil’s human rights committee Brazil’s House of Representatives has elected a renowned racist and homophobic deputy and evangelical pastor, Marco Feliciano, to chair the house Committee on Human Rights and Minorities (CDHM) today. The election should have… Read more »

Survey: 338 LGBT Brazilians murdered in 2012 a rise of 26%

Latest research out of Brazil shows once again the country continues to have the highest murder rate for LGBT people in the world. The Gay Group of Bahia has for 30 years been compiling and publishing statistics on LGBT deaths in the South American country and the latest report shows that there were 338 murders… Read more »

Brazil: Court ruling means all gay couples can legally marry in the state of São Paulo

Earlier this week, a judge in the Brazilian state of São Paulo has ruled that gay couples in civil unions will no longer have to apply to the courts to have their relationships ‘upgraded’ to marriages. The judgement will effectively mean that same-sex marriage is now legal in the state. Judge Fernando Henrique Pinto said… Read more »

Mass gay ‘wedding’ held in Rio, Brazil

Almost 100 gay and lesbian couples had their unions legalized in symbolic ceremony Almost 100 gay and lesbian couples took part in a mass ‘wedding’ in Rio, Brazil, yesterday (9 December). The 92 same-sex couples joined the ceremony which legalized their unions just short of marriage status, reported AFP. However, the service at the Rio… Read more »

Rio gay pride calls for Brazil homophobia ban

Tens of thousands pour on to Copacabana beach for carnvival themed LGBT pride An estimated one million people hit Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Copacabana beach yesterday (18 November) for the Brazilian city’s annual gay pride celebrations. Fifteen floats blaring music lined Avenida Atlantica, while many revellers came dressed in colorful carnival costumes. As well holding… Read more »