Same-sex marriage in Santa Catarina

Same-sex marriage in Santa Catarina has been legal since April 29, 2013. Santa Catarina was one of the twelve Brazilian states to have opened marriage to same-sex couples before its nationwide legalisation in May 2013. Civil unions (união estável) have also been available since 2011 in accordance with a ruling from the Supreme Federal Court.

Legal history

On April 29, 2013, Judge Vanderlei Romer from the state's Judicial Administrative Department (Corregedoria Geral de Justiça) ruled that all notaries statewide are obligated to issue marriage licences to same-sex couples,^[1][2] and convert civil unions into marriages if the couples so choose. This decision legalized same-sex marriage in Santa Catarina.

In August 2013, a Florianópolis prosecutor, Henrique Limongi, received considerable media attention after publicly stating that he would refuse to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples in violation of state and federal law.^[3] Under Brazilian law, judges and notaries are prohibited from refusing to register and license same-sex marriages. Limongi falsely argued that recognizing same-sex marriages violated the Constitution of Brazil. From 2013 to 2018, he personally requested the annulment of 112 same-sex marriages. Lawyers representing some of the involved couples have labelled his arguments "baseless", as the Brazilian judiciary itself has held that same-sex marriage does not violate the Constitution; on the contrary, it requires its recognition. Official investigations alleging "public misconduct", "disrespect for legal hierarchy" and "placing personal beliefs above the law" were launched by the Public Ministry National Council (CNMP; Conselho Nacional do Ministério Público) and the Brazilian Bar Association (Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil).^[4][5][6] In July 2020, the CNMP decided not to bring disciplinary charges against Limongi but recommend his removal from office.^[7] In August 2020, the Public Ministry of Santa Catarina removed Limongi from his post as a marriage officer and reassigned him to a new post, effective from 1 September. His replacement, Vânia Sangalli, said she would perform same-sex marriages.^[8] In September 2020, the Santa Catarina Court of Justice ruled that 46 same-sex marriages Limongi had filed official objections to in 2019 were legal.^[9]

Marriage statistics

The following table shows the number of same-sex marriages performed in Santa Catarina according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics.

Year	Same-sex marriages			Total marriages	% same-sex
	Female	Male	Total
2013^[10]	81	126	207	31,151	0.66%
2014^[11]	137	205	342	32,080	1.07%
2015^[12]	139	210	349	32,820	1.06%
2016^[13]	137	245	382	32,689	1.17%
2017^[14]	135	215	350	33,748	1.03%
2018^[15]	200	229	429	32,815	1.31%
2019^[16]	195	180	375	33,160	1.13%
2020^[17]	145	110	255	24,198	1.05%

Figures for 2020 are lower than previous years because of the restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.^[17]

See also

• Same-sex marriage in Brazil

References

1. (in Portuguese) Justiça de Santa Catarina autoriza casamento homossexual June 3, 2013, at the Wayback Machine
2. (in Portuguese) CGJ autoriza casamento entre pessoas do mesmo sexo em SC
3. "Promotor não permite casamentos gays em Florianópolis". Consultor Jurídico (in Portuguese). August 28, 2013.
4. "Promotor que persegue casamentos LGBTs tentou anular 112 uniões em 5 anos". Brasil de Fato (in Portuguese). June 21, 2018.
5. "Em Santa Catarina, promotor tenta anular casamentos de pessoas do mesmo sexo" (in Portuguese). June 20, 2018.
6. "Homoafetivos com casamento cancelado por promotor de SC se juntam para ação". Brasil Online. June 23, 2018.
7. Silva, Ânderson (July 28, 2020). "Corregedoria recomenda remoção de promotor que veta casamentos homoafetivos em Florianópolis". nsc total (in Portuguese).
8. Martins, Valéria (August 20, 2020). "Promotor de SC que impugnou casamentos homoafetivos não cuidará mais de uniões civis". g1.globo.com (in Portuguese).
9. "Justiça nega pedido do MP para proibir casamento LGBT". CartaCapital (in Portuguese). September 4, 2020.
10. Vital Statistics 2013: Marriages
11. Vital Statistics 2014: Marriages
12. "Estatísticas do Registro Civil 2015, Tabelas, Casamentos". IBGE (in Portuguese).
13. "Estatísticas do Registro Civil 2016, Tabelas, Casamentos". IBGE (in Portuguese).
14. "Estatísticas do Registro Civil 2017, Tabelas, Casamentos". IBGE (in Portuguese).
15. "Estatísticas do Registro Civil 2018, Tabelas, Casamentos". IBGE (in Portuguese).
16. "Estatísticas do Registro Civil 2018, Tabelas, Casamentos". IBGE (in Portuguese).
17. "Estatísticas do Registro Civil 2020, Tabelas, Casamentos". IBGE (in Portuguese).