In May 2007, a lower court rejected the motion, and the couple appealed to the Portuguese Constitutional Court.
Discrimination based on sexual orientation is illegal under the Constitution of Portugal. Their application was refused, but the couple, Teresa Pires and Helena Paixão, promised to challenge the ban in court, saying that it discriminated against them on the basis of their sexual orientation. On 1 February 2006, a lesbian couple applied for a marriage licence.
Same-sex de facto unions were established by Law no.