Brazil Supreme Court criminalizes homophobiaBy The Manila TimesBRASILIA: Brazil’s Supreme Court voted on Thursday to criminalize homophobia, an important step for sexual minorities in one of the most dangerous countries for LGBT people in the world. Brazil now joins a growing number of countries in the typically conservative and Catholic-influenced Latin American region that have passed measures in favor of LGBT rights. But the three judges that voted against the measure insisted that criminalizing homophobia was Congress’s job, not the court’s. Criminalizing homophobia could restrict church leaders, many of whom fear being penalized for rejecting same-sex unions by invoking religious texts. They were joined most recently by Ecuador, whose highest court on Wednesday approved same-sex marriage in a landmark ruling for the country.

Source: Manila Times June 14, 2019 03:33 UTC