LGBT rights in São Paulo (state)

Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in the Brazilian state of São Paulo enjoy most of the same legal protections available to non-LGBT people. In addition to Brazilian federal law against discrimination and in favor of unregistered cohabitation, state-level precedents have allowed for same-sex marriages to be legalized on conditional bases in the 2010s.

Laws against homosexuality

Homosexuality is legal in São Paulo State.

Hate crimes and discrimination law

Large poster of the Public Defenders Office of the State of São Paulo, promoting the LGBT civil rights.

The São Paulo Law No. 10 948 went into effect on 5 November 2001, providing for penalties to be applied to the practice of discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and other measures.^[1][2][3]

LGBT adoption

In 2006, a male gay couple from Catanduva, São Paulo officially adopted a five-year-old girl.^[4]

Same-sex marriage

On December 18, 2012, the Justice Court of São Paulo state ordered all notaries statewide to open marriages licenses for same-sex couples, becoming the most populous Brazilian state to offer same-sex marriages in a manner that is equal to other marriages.^[5]

LGBT life

Cultural expression

According to the Guinness World Records, the São Paulo Gay Pride Parade is the world's largest LGBT Pride celebration, with 4 million people in 2009.^[6] In 2007, in its eleventh edition, the São Paulo Gay Pride Parade broke its own record as the biggest parade in the world and attracted 3.5 million people.^[7]

Rights advocacy

SOMOS, an LGBT rights organization, was established in 1980 in São Paulo, at the same time as Grupo Gay da Bahia was established in Bahia.

Homophobia

A research made in 2005 by the Latin American Center of Human Rights in Sexuality (Clam) found out that 65% of the homosexuals interviewed in that year's São Paulo Gay Pride Parade said that they were victims of hate speech and/or suffered physical aggression.

The Richarlyson affair occurred in which a judge was brought before the Justice Council of São Paulo for stating in court that soccer is a "virile, masculine sport and not a homosexual one." However, afterwards the same judge apologized and afterwards decided to annul the decision he wrote.^[8]

References

1. Leis antidiscriminatórias no Brasil (Anti-homophobia laws in Brazil) (Portuguese)
2. Laws – Sexual Orientation (Portuguese)
3. Laws – Sexual orientation by Location (Portuguese)
4. Cartórios de SP aceitam registro de união gay". Baptista, Renata. Folha de S. Paulo. November 23, 2006. (Portuguese)
5. Casamento gay em São Paulo/Same-sex marriage in São Paulo state (Portuguese)
6. São Paulo Gay Parade (English)
7. São Paulo Gay Pride Parade. Folha de S. Paulo. June 10, 2007. (Portuguese)
8. Em programa de TV, Richarlyson nega ser homossexual (Portuguese)