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 nearly three in five Brazilians have the right to marry their loved one.
After the Justice General in Santa Catarina ruled gay marriage was legal, Judge Davidson Jahn Mello said: ‘As of now, the service notary and registrars will be authorized to grant marriages regardless of the gender of the couple.’
Earlier this month, Rio De Janeiro and Rondônia also legalized same-sex marriage.
Since May 2011, the Supreme Federal Court in Brazil has allowed same-sex couples access to a ‘stable union’. It is similar to marriage but without many of the same legal rights.
A month later, gay couples were allowed to petition state judges to convert their union into a marriage.
This two-step process to being married has led to many jurisdictions ordering a final end to the exclusion of same-sex couples from marriage.
Other states to allow same-sex marriage include, in order of legalization, Alagoas, Sergipe, Espíritu Santo, the Brazilian Federal District, Piauí, São Paulo, Ceará, Paraná and Mato Grosso do Sul.
by Joe Morgan
Source – Gay Star News
