Over the past few years, people all over the world have started to acknowledge gay couples as no lesser than straight couples, but unfortunately, the governments of many countries are still yet to grant legalization of gay marriages. Nevertheless, in a surprising and unexpected development, the government of Brazil has paved the way for legalizing gay marriages in their country. Although the bill for legalization of same sex marriage is still yet to be scrutinized by the Congress, but the effort taken by the Brazilian authorities has been highly applauded by the people supporting gay marriages all over the world.
As announced by the Brazilian authorities, the same sex couples will be as eligible as the straight couples are for receiving marriage licenses and so, gay couples will also be able to enjoy all the rights and privileges associated with marriages. Moreover, the council that supervises the judiciary system of Brazil said that issuing civil union documents in the event of a gay couple seeking for full marriage certificate is not only completely wrong but also demeans them at the same time. However, the approval for this gay marriage legalization bill depends on Congress but the decision will certainly authorize gay marriage all over the country.
The Brazil National Council of Justice took the 2011 Supreme Court ruling, which duly recognized the civil unions of same sex couples, as the base for passing the resolution on Tuesday. However, the notary publics were not given the rights to convert the civil unions into marriages even if the gay couple requested. This practice denied marriage certificates to gay couples at certain places while they were granted the same at other places. Therefore, according to Tuesday’s resolution, this practice will no longer be considered as legal and National Council of Justice Judge Guilherme Calmon said that in the event of any rejection of gay marriages by any notary public officer, severe disciplinary actions would be taken against the said officer. Therefore, this new ruling has certainly made things easier for gay couples in obtaining their marriage certificates without being harassed by notary officers.
This new resolution by the Brazilian authorities is certainly a new development in recognizing civilian rights regardless of their sexual orientations and has also proved their broad-minded outlook regarding gay rights. This development has also brought Brazil closer to their neighboring countries Uruguay and Argentina, which have already legalized gay marriages. Although conservative and religious lawmakers are expected to strongly oppose this same sex marriage bill and might even challenge it in the Supreme court, but the new ruling have proved that the majority of Brazilian people are no longer trapped by the religious dogma which still discriminates gay people. Therefore, if the Congress scrutinizes the bill successfully, then Brazil will become yet another highly populated Roman Catholic nation to legalize gay marriages.
