Abstract:
The purpose of this paper is to look into the plenary session held in the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court (STF) in May 2011, in which the court recognized the marriage of same-sex individuals as a family unit deserving legal protection as in any de facto relationship. The recognition of “same-sex marriage” brought about some changes in the legal practices regarding the civil rights of people of homosexual identity, even though it does consist of a piece of legislation. This paper discusses the stance taken by the many different voices that were present in the Supreme Court plenary session. How did they view “same-sex marriage”? Why could this form of spousal relationship be equated with a “de facto relationship”? The speeches given in that session were used to understand the different views about families and sexualities, as well as the intersections between the language of rights, and moral and religious values. The speeches were taken from the website of the Federal Supreme Court, also available on youtube.com. In the analysis, we singled out some conflicting views, instances of consensus and dissents about the possibility of homosexual couples being or not being included in the legal concept of “family”.
Keywords:
Same-sex marriage; Family; Rights