Gay wedding held in front of Congress building in Brasília

The Gay Pride celebration and the 18th GLBTS (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender and Supportive) Pride Parade in Brasília opened with a special touch that set a more political tone to the event – a mass civil wedding for one male-male and nine female-female couples. The ceremony took place in front of the National Congress buildings – where, according to Federal Deputy Érica Kokay, “threats to rights, love and equality are being gestated.”

Hayanna Veríssimo and Ana Cecília Nagashima have been together for seven years. They celebrated the right to legal recognition of their partnership – and to show people around them that families are based on love, regardless of gender. “Our wedding, officiated here and this way, reflects a major achievement for the new Brazilian families,” said Veríssimo, mother of a 13-year-old boy. “Now we're going to register him as our son.”

One of the most excited guests was Jozef Smets, the Belgian ambassador, who sponsored the event. “Belgium was the second country to allow same-sex marriage. I myself am here with my husband. I can see that Brazil's advancing and sharing more of our values of tolerance and openness to diversity,” he told Agência Brasil.

Another enthusiastic attender was Abiail Ferreira, the justice of the peace who officiated the mass wedding ceremony. “This is a secular country, so we must respect differences – and there are quite a few of them,” she said. Addressing the parents of the couples, the judge was clear: “If you want to see your children happy, you should respect the choices from their hearts above all.”

Owner of a company that organizes same-sex weddings, Francisco Biondo celebrates the fact that he managed to make Brasília the first city to open an LGBT Pride Parade with a mass wedding.

“What we see in Congress now is a dehumanization movement as some not-so-loving religious entities repeatedly blare their homophobic speech. This has inspired us to celebrate weddings here, in front of the National Congress,” he said.

He expects that the Supreme Court's decision to authorize civil same-sex marriage should put more pressure on registry offices to hold this kind of ceremony.

Translated by Mayra Borges