The Federal Prosecutor’s Office for Citizens’ Rights (PFDC), an agency of the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), called for the rejection and shelving of the bill that seeks to prohibit civil unions between people of the same sex in Brazil. According to the prosecutor’s office, in addition to being unconstitutional, the proposal violates international principles and represents a setback with regard to the fundamental rights and guarantees of LGBTQIA+ people.
The text is being processed in the Chamber of Deputies. In a public note sent to the House on Friday (22), the prosecutor’s office assesses that denying the possibility of same-sex civil union means saying that homosexuals would have fewer rights than heterosexuals, “creating a hierarchy of human beings based on sexual orientation” .
For the prosecutor’s office, this understanding would be contrary to constitutional precepts, such as the dignity of the human being and the prohibition of any form of discrimination. “This idea collides head-on with the essence of the Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil, which seeks to structure a nation in which coexistence between different people is peaceful and harmonious”, says the note.
“A possible approval of this project does not just mean that the State assumes that there is a correct model of marriage and that this model would be heterosexual. It also means that the State recognizes non-heteronormative people as citizens and second-class citizens, who cannot exercise all their rights, due to their sexual orientation”, highlighted the prosecutor’s office.
The Federal Attorney’s Office for Citizen’s Rights cited IBGE data that indicate that, in 2021 alone, 9.2 thousand same-sex couples formalized their stable union at a registry office. If the project becomes law, the MPF body warns that new unions will be prohibited or will not have the desired legal effects, “creating an evident and unjustified imbalance between homosexual and heterosexual people”.
Furthermore, according to the note, civil union is a voluntary and private act, “whose essence is to establish a partnership between two people for a common life”. “In this sense, the sexual orientation of those who are joining together does not matter, and this does not concern the entire community, in a democratic State that guarantees fundamental freedoms, especially those of individuals”, he says.
In the prosecutor’s assessment, the project attempts to restrict individuals’ right to choose, in a situation that refers eminently to the private sphere.
The vote on Bill 5,167/2009 was on the agenda of the 19th in the Social Security, Social Assistance, Childhood, Adolescence and Family Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, but was postponed until next Wednesday (27). According to the agreement between party leaders, before putting the text to a vote, the commission will hold a public hearing on Tuesday (26) to debate the topic.
Historic
In 2011, the Federal Supreme Court (STF) equated same-sex relationships with stable unions between men and women, thus recognizing same-sex unions as a family nucleus. The decision was taken in the judgment of the Direct Action of Unconstitutionality 4277 and the Claim of Non-compliance with Fundamental Precept 132.
Furthermore, the STF understood that there is no closed or reductionist concept of family in the Constitution, nor any formality required for it to be considered as such. In 2013, the National Justice Council (CNJ) ordered all registry offices in the country to perform same-sex marriages.
“The STF’s decision sought to ensure equal treatment between straight and same-sex couples. It allowed homosexual spouses to establish a civil union through a contract recognized by the State, guaranteeing them rights such as inheritance, sharing of health plans, social security rights and others, already recognized for heterosexual spouses”, explained the prosecutor’s office.
The text under discussion in the Chamber of Deputies, reported by deputy Pastor Eurico (PL-PE), intends to include in Article 1,521 of the Civil Code the following excerpt: “Under constitutional terms, no relationship between people of the same sex can be equivalent to marriage or family entity”. Currently, Article 1,521 lists the cases in which marriage is not permitted, such as in cases of union between parents and children or between people already married.
In the justification, the rapporteur states that marriage “represents an objective and timeless reality, which has procreation as its starting point and purpose, which excludes unions between people of the same sex”.
For the prosecutor’s office, the PL relativizes the secularity of the Brazilian State, by basing itself on arguments based on a Christian vision of marriage, seen as an institution aimed at generating descendants. “The imposition of a general religious bias on particular choices takes us towards a theocracy or totalitarianism, taking us back a few centuries in time”, says the document.
For deputy Pastor Eurico, by validating same-sex unions, the STF would have usurped the National Congress’s competence to regulate the topic. The prosecutor’s office also refuted the argument, evaluating that the Supreme Court exercised its interpretative competence of the law, by establishing an understanding that the mention of men and women in the 1988 Constitution resulted from the need to clarify the level of equality of rights between the parties to the couple.
If approved by the Social Security, Social Assistance, Childhood, Adolescence and Family Commission, the project will go to the Constitution and Justice Commission (CCJ), conclusively. In other words, it would not need to go to the plenary in case of new approval, going straight to the Senate for consideration. It would only go to the plenary if at least 52 deputies signed an appeal to that effect.
The environment in the CCJ, however, is less favorable than in the previous commission, as it is chaired by Rui Falcão (PT-SP), from the government base and opposed to the project. And it is up to him to decide which projects are on the CCJ’s agenda.
With information from Agência Brasil
The post MPF calls for shelving of project that prohibits same-sex marriage appeared first in Jornal de Brasília.
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