Just a year after Brazil’s Supreme Court allowed same-sex couples the same legal rights as married heterosexuals, a public notary has recognised a civil union of three persons — a man and two women.
The notary, Claudio do Nascimento Domingues, said there is nothing in law to prevent such an arrangement.
The three parties to the union, who have declined to speak to the press, have lived in Rio de Janeiro together for three years. They share bills and other expenses, and have a joint bank account.
Ms Domingues, who is based in the Sao Paulo city of Tupa, said the move reflected the fact that the idea of a “family” had changed.
“We are only recognising what has always existed. We are not inventing anything,” she said.
“For better or worse, it doesn’t matter, but what we considered a family before isn’t necessarily what we would consider a family today.”
Nathaniel Santos Batista Junior, a jurist who helped draft the document, said the idea was to protect their rights in case of separation or death of a partner.
Conservative and religious leaders have charged that the registration of a civil union of three persons further devalues the institution of marriage and family life.
Lawyer Regina Beatriz Tavares da Silva said it was “absurd and totally illegal”, and “something completely unacceptable which goes against Brazilian values and morals”.
Ms da Silva, who is president of the Commission for the Rights of the Family within the Institute of Lawyers, says the union will not be allowed to remain in place.
Brazil is one of very few South American nations to allow gay unions with benefits similar to those afforded a heterosexual married couple.
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Image: Globalpost