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by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Posted: November 30, 2006 8:30 am ET
(Cape Town, South Africa) South
Africa on Thursday officially became the fifth country to
legalize same-sex marriage, following the Netherlands,
Belgium, Spain, Canada. In the United States, gay
marriage is legal only in the state of Massachusetts.
The South African legislation
was signed by Deputy President Phumzile-Mlambo Ngcuka while
President Thabo Mbeki attends a summit conference of African
leaders in Nigeria and came just5 24 hours before a court
imposed deadline to have the law in place.
The legislation received final
approval Tuesday in the upper house. It was approved by the
lower house of Parliament earlier in the month.
The government had originally
proposed allowing only civil unions for same-sex couples -
something that LGBT rights groups and constitutional law
experts said created a "separate but equal" status
that would be challenged in the Constitutional Court.
A provision in the new law that
allows both civil registrants and churches to refuse to
perform same-sex marriage continues to rankle gay groups but
overall reaction has been favorable.
Last year the Constitutional
Court ruled that denying same-sex couples the rights of
marriage was unconstitutional. It said that if Parliament
fails to act by the December deadline the the law
automatically be changed to include same-sex unions. But,
it gave no specific direction on how the law should be
changed. Last year the Constitutional Court ruled that denying
same-sex couples the rights of marriage was unconstitutional.
It said that if Parliament fails to act by the December
deadline the the law automatically be changed to include
same-sex unions. But, it gave no specific direction on
how the law should be changed.
The case that led to the court
ruling was brought by Marie Fourie and Cecilia Bonthuys,
who have been partners since 1994 but were unable to marry.
Seven other same-sex couples later joined the case.
In 2004 the Supreme Court of
Appeal ruled that the definition of marriage as being between
a man and a woman discriminated unfairly against same-sex
couples, and that common law should be developed to take this
into account.
The government appealed the
ruling to the Constitutional Court arguing that the appeal
court violated the rule of the separation of powers by
usurping Parliament's authority by making law.
The ruling was one of a series
of legal wins for gays and lesbians dating back to 1998 when
sodomy was decriminalized.
The following year immigrant
partners of South African lesbians and gays were allowed to
apply for permanent residence.
Same-sex adoption was legalized
in 2002 and in 2003 the government bowed to pressure and
permitted domestic partner benefits.
©365Gay.com 2006
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South
Africa Gay Marriage Bill Becomes Law