Jurist detonates bill that seeks to prohibit same-sex marriage

Maria Berenice Diasa retired lawyer and judge from the Court of Justice of Rio Grande do Sul, detonated the bill (PL) that seeks to prohibit same-sex marriage in Brazil.

“This project that is scaring everyone has no chance of eventually becoming law, because, if it becomes law, it is unconstitutional”, said the jurist.

She stated:“The only meaning of this project is to draw attention to social movements to push for legislation. I achieved these jurisprudential advances by creating sexual diversity commissions throughout Brazil, more than 200, to qualify lawyers to knock on the doors of the Judiciary , seeking the recognition of same-sex rights”.

Maria Berenice, who is also the founder and national vice-president of the Brazilian Institute of Family Law, a reference in Homoaffective and Gender Law in Brazil, continued: “We created the National Commission for Sexual Diversity of the Bar Association, of which I was president for eight years. We drafted the bill [que garante o casamento homoafetivo]and they say it is the most complete in the world, because it not only regulates all rights but also changes all remaining legislation that excludes [as pessoas LGBTs], or speaks of a man or a woman. The project talks about people.”.

“It took me six years to collect the signatures. I had to have a closet built in my apartment to be able to house the documents.”he spoke.

The lawyer concluded:“And what happened? The same thing with all the bills, they ended up being shelved. […] Do we have a conservative National Congress? We do, but there is no other way than to seek legal regulation. In this sense, all entities that pay attention to the issues of this population’s rights should move.”.