Same-sex marriage has been legal in Brazil since 16 May 2013, following a decision by the National Justice Council ordering notaries of every state to license and perform same-sex marriages. Before nationwide legalisation in May 2013, the states of Alagoas, Bahia, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Paraíba, Paraná, Piauí, Rondônia, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, and Sergipe, as well as the Federal District and the city of Santa Rita do Sapucaí, had already legalized same-sex marriages. In Rio de Janeiro, same-sex couples could also marry but only if local judges approved their requests.
On 14 May 2013, the National Justice Council legalized same-sex marriage nationwide, ruling 14–1 that notaries are obliged to license and perform same-sex marriages and convert any existing civil unions into marriages if the couples so wish. President of the Supreme Federal Court Joaquim Barbosa stated that notaries could not continue to refuse to "license and perform a civil marriage or the conversion of a stable union into a marriage between two people of the same sex". The ruling was published on 15 May and took effect on 16 May 2013. Polling suggests that a majority of Brazilians support the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Brazil was the second country in South America, after Argentina, and the twelfth in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.