Today was a very important, if not the most important, day for gay rights in the country: civil unions of same sex couples were voted in the Supreme Court, and in an unanimous decision of ten votes to zero, civil unions of homosexual couples will be recognized in Brazil, and same sex couples will have the same rights and benefits of heterosexual couples on a federal level. With today's decision, homosexuals in Brazil will be granted over one hundred different rights.

It was incredibly touching to listen to the speeches given by the ministers live this afternoon while following the voting process. It is almost overwhelming to think of the voting today, and what it will mean for the lives of many gay couples in the country, including me and my boyfriend. I am certain that today's voting will have a major impact in the fight against homophobia on many levels as well, and open the door to more changes. Thank you to all the ministers who voted today, not only for your votes but also for your words.

Expect updates later today and tomorrow here and on facebook.

Late last year me and my boyfriend were invited to participate in a national video project inspired by the It Gets Better campaign. Unfortunately we were traveling at the time the testimonials were filmed, but I am happy to see some familar faces in the teaser video for the movie project, which is already out.

The video was directed by André Matarazzo and Gustavo Ferri. I will email them and see if they can also put together a version subtitled in English.

To learn more about the project, visit Não Gosto dos Meninos on facebook.

A week after volleyball player Michael Pinto dos Santos was harrassed at a match by an entire arena and  decided to publicly came out of the closet to speak against homophobia in sports, his team Vôlei Futuro backed his decision to come out by putting together a demonstration against prejudice. With pink balloons waving all over the arena, a massive flag with a message against prejudice, and even rainbow colored uniforms, Vôlei Futuro made history this past Saturday in the fight against homophobia in Brazil.

Related: A National Athlete We Really Should Be Proud Of

Brazilian volleyball player Michael made headlines this week for publicly coming out and speaking against homophobia after being harrassed and called "fag" by an entire arena at a match in Contagem last Friday.

People see Brazil as a very liberal and sexual country, but when it comes to openly gay athletes and celebrities we are decades behind, which is why I wanted to thank Michael for having the courage to come out and speak about harrassment in sports in national television this week. We don't have an Ellen, we don't have a Neil Patrick Harris, and we have never even had a gay kiss on national television in Brazil, but if more actors and athletes who are in the spotlight were brave enough to do what Michael did this week, I am certain that they would have a huge impact on the lives of many lesbian and gay people in this country, and stop incidents like last Friday's from happening again.

Michael's coming out was fully supported by his team.

In a country in which a gay kiss on national television is still a big taboo and in which we can count in one hand the number of openly gay celebrities, it is only natural that the first person to be eliminated from the eleventh season of Big Brother would be the first transexual woman in the history of the show with a history of prostitution.

It is a shame that Ariadna was sent home last night with 49% of the viewers votes when she was probably the one person in the Big Brother house this season with the power to push people's buttons and to make people think and perhaps reconsider some of their preconceived notions about sexuality.

Big Brother Brazil 11 may have lost its most interesting cast member last night, but on the gay front there are still two men in the house this season, along with a bisexual girl, and now possibly a lesbian as well. Cast member Diana revealed last night after Ariadna's elimination that she prefers to date women, even though she would consider also hooking up with men. It is too bad that the producers of the show don't have the balls to cast two hot gay guys in the same season to see what would develop if they were to hook up.

Viviane Orth covers the January issue of Elle Brazil.
Gisele has perfect samba hair in Pantene's latest commercial for Carnival in Brazil.
Bryanboy is in Rio covering the fall 2011 shows.
Swide interviews David Vivirido and Francesco Sourigues of Hercules magazine.
The Time I Had Some Time Alone: a new Dior Homme video for spring/ summer 2011 directed by Willy Vanderperre.
More images of the DSquared2 spring 2011 ad campaign photographed by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.
Nicki Minaj in V Magazine #69.
Outtakes of Caio Cesar by Jeremy Kost for Têtu.
Style.com's fall 2011 menswear preview.
A preview of Uniqlo's +J spring/ summer 2011 collection by Jil Sander. Hope it will be released next time I am in New York so that I can get some pieces.
Watch MTV Brazil's ad spot against homophobia, and Ricky Martin's new video for The Best Thing About Me Is You.
Amy Winehouse has been in the country for almost a week, relaxing by the pool at her hotel in Santa Teresa, and performing in Florianópolis and Rio. Apparently she's been disappearing in the middle of the concert and then ramdomly coming back on stage during her one hour show, but so far all reviews of her concert have been pretty positive here. She is playing in Recife tomorrow night, and in São Paulo on the 15.
Buati is hosting a fashion edition in honor of the fall shows in Rio this coming Friday at Erótika, with DJs Gustavo Tatá, Jonjo Jury, Carla Multedo, and Badenov.