BRAZIL: Lucimar da Silva becomes the first gay man in Brazil to earn the right to full maternity leave after he and his partner adopt a child

Record ID: 277717

  • Title: BRAZIL: Lucimar da Silva becomes the first gay man in Brazil to earn the right to full maternity leave after he and his partner adopt a child
  • Date: 28th September 2012
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PICTURES OF RAFAEL AND LUCIMAR WITH JOAO
  • Embargoed: 13th October 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3BJ57SFRT7JPKWM9KO7V3M8VC
  • Story Text: Lucimar da Silva and Rafael Gerhardt have been together for 18 years, but it was only two years ago that the two decided they wanted to adopt a child to make their family complete.
    The process was long, but they finally managed to adopt a baby boy, Joao, who is now a happy and healthy two-year old.
    But another battle soon followed. As men, both were only entitled to the standard paternity leave of just five days - so they went to court to enable one of them to win the same rights as mothers - a four-month period of paid paternity leave.
    They won their case after a judge in Brasilia declared that gay and lesbian couples with children had the same parental rights as their heterosexual counterparts.
    The decision was welcomed by everyone who followed their journey and the two are now seen as pioneers in the fight for equal rights for gay couples.
    Gaspar Saikoski, Head of Human Resources at Banrisul, the bank where Lucimar works, believes he has opened the door for people around the country in a similar situation.
    "(I told him) you were the catalyst for a cultural shift in the country, and I'm so glad you acted on it and had the courage to face this issue and expose yourself. I think sometimes the individual wants something, but perhaps lacks the courage and the determination to pursue it, but Lucimar pressed ahead and obtained the results. Certainly from now on, companies will look at this decision and at this process (gay couples with children) in a different light," he said.
    Lucimar said he and his family just wanted to have a normal a life as possible - with the same rights as other, more traditional, couples.
    "Ours it's just a normal family. Two people who decided to live together, who love each other, and who wanted to have a family, which might get bigger. So, we're going to keep living this way, regardless of what anyone thinks. We just ask for people to respect us, because we have a lot of respect for them, and our whole family values are based around affection, respect and love," he said.
    Brazilian law is still ambiguous regarding the civil rights of homosexual couples, despite a landmark ruling in 2011 by Brazil's Supreme Court that stated same-sex partners were entitled to every legal right enjoyed by heterosexual couples.
    Ana Cristina Evangelista, the judge who presided over Lucimar and Rafael's case in Brasilia, said her priority was to safeguard the child's well-being.
    "At no point did we evaluate the family from a "traditional" or homosexual standpoint. We had the child in mind at all times, and it was the safeguarding of her rights that we were looking at," she said.
    Brazil, for all its cultural and racial diversity, still has some way to go regarding equality for gays and lesbians.
    But Rafael said the fight to improve equality was worth it.
    "We just went after our rights. Everybody said that (paternity) leave is a right of the child, so that's what we did. We went after Joao's rights."
    LGBTI
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