Gender and sexuality in the Brazilian Supreme Court: Expansion of rights, ambivalent reasoning, and telling omissions

During the 2000s, the Brazilian Supreme and Constitutional Court (STF), initiated the development and consolidation of a body of case law regarding gender and sexuality. Under the 1988 Constitution, the STF has issued rulings on several matters such as political participation, labor relations, domestic violence, reproductive rights, gender identity, and same-sex marriage. The cases were decided on different legal bases and within distinct social mobilization contexts. However, overall, the STF has made significant strides in advancing the agendas supporting women and the LGBTQIA+ community. This chapter aims to delve into STF jurisprudence on gender and sexuality by contextualizing the court's decisions within the history of feminist and LGBTQIA+ mobilization, particularly during the Constitutional Assembly that shaped the current constitutional text. By doing so, this chapter seeks to explore tendencies, variations, and certain ambivalences within the STF's approach, including the presence of stereotypical reasoning and the occurrence of case dismissals or cases pending on procedural grounds.