Brazil

In Brazil, the human rights of LGBTIQ people have seen significant advances, but the situation remains complex and, in some cases, troubling. Marriage equality has been legal since 2013, when the right was recognized by the Supreme Court. However, there are efforts in Congress to repeal it, driven by lawmakers linked to anti-gender and anti-democratic groups. Despite constitutional guarantees and federal criminal provisions that, following a 2019 Supreme Court ruling, prohibit discrimination and hate crimes based on sexual orientation and gender identity, LGBTIQ people face significant challenges in ensuring their safety and rights on a daily basis. Brazil continues to have one of the highest rates of violence against sexual and gender minorities, particularly against transgender individuals.

LGBTIQ persons actively participate in politics, with over 3,000 openly LGBTQ candidates running for office in the 2024 municipal elections. Trans people can legally change their gender markers based on self-determination. In addition, trans voters have been allowed to register with their gender identity and lived name, even when their official identification documents have not been updated. Although there are no specific laws protecting intersex people, on the International Day of Intersex Solidarity and Remembrance in November 2023, the Ministry of Human Rights and Citizenship issued an ordinance to formally establish the Working Group for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights of Intersex Persons. The group was installed in December 2023 and tasked with developing strategies and a final report on the rights of intersex people. Its mandate was later extended, and in October 2025, the Ministry announced the presentation of the Working Group’s Carta de Recomendações, a set of recommendations aimed at promoting and protecting the human rights of intersex persons and people with variations of sex characteristics.

In September 2025, the government reinstated the National LGBTI+ Health Technical Committee, restoring a key participatory body dissolved in 2019 and reestablishing an important mechanism for shaping and monitoring inclusive public health policy. The same year, the Superior Court of Justice ruled in favor of allowing nonbinary people to amend their civil registry to reflect their gender identity, and the government convened a national conference to launch a proposed “National Policy for LGBTQIA+ Rights,” aimed at creating long-term, structural protections against discrimination.

However, these advances exist in stark tension with the broader political landscape. While the executive branch has taken a pro-rights stance, a deeply conservative Congress has generated a surge of anti-LGBTIQ proposals across multiple legislative bodies, highlighting a growing institutional divide and the fragility of recent gains in Brazil.