South African Panel OKs Gay Marriage
Pastor Dale Morgan
Nov 9, 4:17 PM EST
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South African Panel OKs Gay Marriage*
By CLARE NULLIS
Associated Press Writer
CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- A parliamentary committee approved
proposals for same-sex marriages in South Africa on Thursday, clearing
the way for the passage of legislation that would be unique on a deeply
conservative continent.
The compromise, reached after heated public debate, upset religious
groups, traditionalists and even some members of the governing African
National Congress while gay rights activists said it didn't go far enough.
"It's been a very difficult time. It was a major challenge," said
Patrick Chauke, chairman of the Home Affairs Portfolio Committee, which
spent weeks touring the country to gauge public opinion and received
nearly 6,000 written comments.
The civil unions bill will go to a full session of parliament Tuesday.
Despite the unease in the ANC ranks, it is expected to pass as lawmakers
have been ordered to follow the party line and told there is little room
for maneuver.
Denmark in 1989 became the first country to legislate for same-sex
partnerships, and several other European Union members have followed
suit. In the United States, only Massachusetts allows gay marriage.
Vermont and Connecticut permit civil unions, and more than a dozen
states grant lesser legal rights to gay couples.
In Africa, homosexuality is still largely taboo. It is illegal in
Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana and most other
sub-Saharan countries.
South Africa recognized gay rights in the constitution adopted after
apartheid ended in 1994 - the first in the world to prohibit
discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. But the government
long opposed attempts to extend the definition of marriage in court to
include same-sex couples in the mostly Christian country.
Married couples currently have numerous rights still denied gay couples,
including the ability to make decisions on each other's behalf in
medical emergencies, and inheritance rights if a partner dies without a
will.
South Africa's Constitutional Court ruled last year that the country's
marriage legislation was illegal because it discriminated against
same-sex couples. It gave the government until Dec. 1 to adopt new
legislation.
The bill provides for the "voluntary union of two persons, which is
solemnized and registered by either a marriage or civil union." It does
not specify whether they are heterosexual or gay partnerships.
But it also says marriage officers need not perform a ceremony between
same-sex couples if doing so would conflict with his or her "conscience,
religion and belief." That could leave gay couples shopping for someone
to perform their ceremony.
Gay rights groups welcomed the inclusion of the term "marriage" in the
legislation but said they were disappointed that homosexual couples were
being treated differently from heterosexual couples because of the
opt-out clause.
"Everyone should be governed by one law," said Vista Kaupa of the
Triangle Project, which provides support for gays and lesbians.
"Marriage should be for everyone. There should be one encompassing
umbrella for everyone."
Jonathan Berger of the AIDS Law Project said the wording implied that
"something inherently problematic about same-sex marriage."
He predicted that the bill would be open to challenge on grounds that it
does not comply with the Constitutional Court ruling for full equality
before the law.
Marie Fourie and Cecelia Bonthuys, a lesbian couple from Pretoria, sued
the government for not recognizing their October 2002 wedding. The
government lost the case, as well as the appeals.
Chauke, who put aside his own religious convictions to steer the bill
through the Home Affairs committee, said the final compromise was a
"wonderful" product.
"We've arrived at the point where we've met the constitutional
requirement that everybody is equal before the law," he told journalists.
The main opposition Democratic Alliance said it had "serious problems"
with the bill and complained that it was rushed through the committee on
the final day without a vote and without time for adequate debate.
"One of the problems is to call same-sex unions a marriage," Terius
Delport said.
Steve Swart of the African Christian Democratic Party was visibly upset.
"It would be the first time that an African country has same-sex
marriage. This we cannot accept," he said.