I'm pretty impressed with Brazil right now. Their social security agency has just approved for a gay man to get maternity leave in order to take care for his adopted child.
This is pretty great news for any parent, since I'm a big fan of any man getting time off in order to take care of his new child. The "paternity leave" is a good thing for families and for a gay parent to get the same right in Brazil is, to me, positively amazing.
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Dad Lucimar de Silva requested a full four-month paternity leave two years ago when he and his partner adopted their child. Brazilian law had previously stated that a mother was required by law to be granted four months leave but the father of the child can only be given five days. Now all that's changing thanks to the new ruling.
According to the Global Post, "Silva argued that it would be discriminatory to deny him longer leave, saying the agency had already approved four-month leaves for same-sex couples where both partners are women." And, well, I guess his argument won out because he's gotten his request approved now!
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The only not-so-great news is that the social security agency said that the decision "does not set a legal precedent" and that other all-male couples will have to make individual requests to get the same benefit. It's still pretty great news, though, and I hope the two dads are thrilled at the decision.
What do you think about Brazil's decision to allow a gay man to take a four-month paternity leave? Share with us in the comments below!
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