Unions of same-sex couples is on the rise in Brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In 2021 it will be 10 years since the STF (Supreme Federal Court) recognized same-sex unions as family entities. Since then, the number of couples of the same gender has grown by 60%.

In addition, there has been a change in the profile of these couples, who are getting together younger and younger.

Relationships between 20 and 34 years old currently represent 59.7% of stable same-sex unions. Ten years ago, this rate was 37.6%, according to data from the CNB (Brazilian College of Notaries), which brings together notaries in Brazil, obtained by the newspaper O Estado de São Paulo.

The STF’s decision in 2011 extended the rights of homosexual couples, which began to have inclusion in health plans, inheritance, and adoption or recognition of homosexual parents in birth certificates.

The acceptance of parents has become greater in recent years and is among the reasons for the rise in unions, although prejudice in families remains a serious problem.

In 2018 there was a rush of same-sex couples in registry offices. The rise was 61% between 2017 and the following year.

There were fears at the time that the election of President Jair Bolsonaro (PL) would cause possible setbacks for LGBT people. Bolsonaro is always emphatic in his defense of the “traditional family.” But, in practice, there was no reduction in the rights of homo-affective unions in the government.

A resolution of the CNJ (National Council of Justice) in 2013 also made a difference. It obliges notaries all over the country to celebrate civil marriage and convert same-sex unions into marriage. However, there is no law even today that recognizes LGBT marriages.

Couples resort to stable unions because they are more practical. However, the number of LGBT marriages still exceeds the number of stable unions of these couples in Brazil. There were 6,400 marriages against 2,100 stable unions in 2020.