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 courthouse was mainly symbolic and participants will have to take their vows again in front of a judge today (10 December).
Speaking to G1 website, Rio State’s LGBT rights officer Claudio Nascimento said: ‘[The ceremony] pays an old debt with a segment of the population that is the target of so much prejudice and discrimination.’
On 5 May 2011, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court granted same-sex couples in stable partnerships the same rights as straight couples.
And on 27 June 2011, a judge in São Paulo converted for the first time a same-sex civil union into a same-sex marriage.
A resolution in the state was then passed to permit other same-sex civil unions be changed to marriage status. However this does not hold force beyond São Paulo state.
by Matthew Jenkins
Source – Gay Star News
