Brazil Had 3,701 Gay Marriages in 2013, the First Year Such Unions Were Legal

RIO DE JANEIRO – Brazil celebrated 3,701 gay weddings in 2013, the first year a judicial decision authorized same-sex marriage, officials announced Tuesday.

Of all gay marriages last year, 52 percent were between women and 48 percent between men, according to figures of the civil registry published by the Brazilian Geography and Statistics Institute, or IBGE.

Same-sex marriages were pronounced legal in Brazil in a May 2013 decision of the National Judiciary Council (CNJ), though gay activists demand that their rights be confirmed in a law.

Previously, a same-sex couple could only register as a “stable union,” which in terms of its rights were judged equivalent to marriage in a May 2011 decision of the Supreme Court, which acted in lieu of any existing legislation on the matter.

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