The number of same-sex marriages soared 61.7% between 2017 and 2018, according to data released this week by IBGE, Brazil's government statistics agency.

While the survey data indicated a 1.6% drop in the country's total number of civil marriages, same-sex marriages jumped from 5,887 to 9,520 during that time period.

Same-sex female marriages represented 58.4% of those unions. The largest increase was observed in Brazil's Northeast Region (85.2%) and the Central-West Region (42.5%).

President Jair Bolsonaro, who has called himself a "proud homophobe," took office on January 1, 2019. One-fifth of the 9,520 marriages took place in December 2018.

LGBT+ advocates say the newly released data reveal citizens' fears that Bolsonaro would violate their rights.

Read more: Linn da Quebrada leads trans-black resistance in Bolsonaro's Brazil

LGBT+ community fears legal limitations

In 2013, Brazil's National Council of Justice legalized same-sex marriage. However, rights advocates said Bolsonaro's election accelerated LGBT+ couples in tying the knot, for fear he might pass legislation to restrict their right to wed.

The right to marry also allows same-sex couples in Brazil to share health care benefits and inheritances.

"The LGBT community knows its rights, and this conservative wave led to a reaction, to reaffirm this right and defend it," Claudio Nascimento from Brazil's LGBTI National Alliance, a nonprofit group, told Reuters news agency.

Far-right President and former military officer Bolsonaro said in a 2011 Playboy magazine interview that he "would be incapable of loving a homosexual son," adding that he would "prefer my son to die in an accident than show up with a mustachioed man."

In May 2002, Bolsonaro said that if he saw "two men kissing each other on the street" he would "beat them up."

Same-sex marriage is currently legal in 27 countries. Austria, Ecuador and Taiwan recognized the legal right of gay couples to wed this year.

Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right president in quotes 'Straight to the dictatorship' Bolsonaro has criticized the very democracy that won him the presidency. In a 1999 TV interview, he said he would shut down Congress if he ever became president. "There is no doubt: I would perform a coup on the same day. And I'm sure that at least 90 percent of the population would celebrate and applaud because [Congress] doesn't work," Bolsonaro said. "Let's go straight to the dictatorship."

Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right president in quotes 'Rape' Four years ago, Bolsonaro engaged in a heated debate with Brazilian lawmaker Maria do Rosario. During the debate, he said: "I wouldn't rape you because you don't deserve it." Shortly after, he defended himself, saying he wasn't a rapist. However, he added that if he were a rapist, he wouldn't touch do Rosario because she is "ugly."

Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right president in quotes 'Moment of weakness' In a speech at Rio de Janeiro's Hebraica Club in April 2017, Bolsonaro spoke about his family. "I have five children. Four are men, and then in a moment of weakness the fifth came out a girl," he said.

Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right president in quotes 'Prefer my son to die' LGBT activists have long railed against Bolsonaro for his homophobic stance. But in a 2011 Playboy magazine interview, Bolsonaro made things personal, saying he "would be incapable of loving a homosexual son … I would prefer my son to die in an accident than show up with a mustachioed man." In May 2002, he said that if he saw "two men kissing each other on the street" he would "beat them up."

Jair Bolsonaro: Brazil's far-right president in quotes 'No means to control their offspring' Bolsonaro has often belittled impoverished communities. But in 2008, he took things a step further by suggesting poor people should be prevented from bearing children. Birth control "methods have to be provided for those who, unfortunately, are ignorant and have no means to control their offspring because we [as the upper middle class] are able to control ours."



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