HRC Blog

Brazil’s National Council of Justice, which oversees the country’s judicial system, ruled today that government notaries cannot deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

While the decision is subject to appeal, the Supreme Court affirmed in 2011 that “the expression of homosexuality and homosexual affection cannot serve as a basis for discriminatory treatment, which has no support in the Constitution," said Chief Justice Joaquim Barbosa on the council’s website. 

Brazil’s Congress is also considering marriage equality legislation. 

Should Brazil pass marriage equality, it would be the fifteenth country to allow gay and lesbian couples to legally marry.