Marriage equality advocates have welcomed a Brazilian court decision upgrading same-sex civil unions to full marriages.(Details can be found here)
Australian Marriage Equality National Convenor, Alex Greenwich, said the decision highlights the fact that civil unions are not a substitute for allowing same-sex couples to marry.
“We don’t have different driver’s licenses because we are gay, and this decision highlights that we shouldn’t have different forms relationship recognition either” Mr Greenwich said.
“Marriage provides society with a universal way of recognising and affirming relationships. Relegating same-sex relationships to a civil union scheme continues to exclude us from that recognition and affirmation.”
“In this case a separate status is a lesser status.”
Mr Greenwich said four Australian states and territories have civil union schemes which provide an option for couples who do not wish to marry.
“Civil union are fine for those couples seeking an alternative to marriage, but they can never be a substitute for those same-sex couples who want to marry.”
In Latin America same-sex couples can marry in Argentina, Mexico City and now Brazil. They can also marry in the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, South Africa and the US jurisdictions of New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, Connecticut, Iowa and Washington DC.
In Australia, Tasmania, Victoria, the ACT and NSW have some form of civil union scheme.
For more information contact Alex Greenwich on 0421 316 335.