September 19, 2008
Brazil's President Supports Gay Unions
Steve Weinstein READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Brazil's president has come out in favor of same-sex unions.
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says that in Brazil, "there are men living with men, and women living with women" who "build a good life together." But a proposed law that would give all same-sex couples rights equal to those enjoyed by married heterosexuals has been stalled in Brazil's Congress for more than a decade.
Silva said in an interview aired late Wednesday night by the government-run TV Brasil that politicians who oppose same-sex unions and yet seek the votes of gay men and women during elections are "hypocrites."
Steve Weinstein has been a regular correspondent for the International Herald Tribune, the Advocate, the Village Voice and Out. He has been covering the AIDS crisis since the early '80s, when he began his career. He is the author of "The Q Guide to Fire Island" (Alyson, 2007).
