One-hundred-and-thirty gay and lesbian
couples on Sunday married in a mass wedding at Rio de Janeiro's
Superior Court of Justice.
According to the AFP, the marriages
represent the city's first gay civil marriages.
Despite the fact that Brazil's national
congress has not approved a law legalizing same-sex marriage, courts
have increasingly sided with gay couples. In May, notary publics
that oversee marriages were prohibited by a court order from denying
a gay couple's request for a marriage license.
“I've dreamed of marrying her since I
met her,” Viviane Soares Lessa de Faria, 38, told news
site G1 as she beamed at her partner. “I've dreamed of
marrying her since I met her.”
“Today we mark a political victory,”
said Judge Cristina Gaulia.
The majority (89) of the couples
marrying Sunday were lesbians.