Same-sex marriage in South Africa: Difference between revisions
WAvegetarian (talk | contribs) m →Religious roots of the opposition to same-sex marriages: adding {{fact}} to weasel words |
→Religious roots of the opposition to same-sex marriages: rm section - just plain made up |
||
| Line 49: | Line 49: | ||
Accordingly, the government made a last-minute amendment to the Civil Unions Bill, changing it so as to permit the "voluntary union of two persons, which is solemnized and registered by either a marriage or a civil union." MPs from the [[African National Congress]] were required to support the bill, which was passed by the [[National Assembly of South Africa|National Assembly]] 230 to 41 on [[November 14]]. It must now be approved by the [[National Council of Provinces]] and President [[Thabo Mbeki]].<ref name="iafrica">{{cite news |title=Same-sex marriage bill approved |url=http://iafrica.com/news/sa/416904.htm |work=iafrica.com |date=[[2006-11-14]] |accessdate=2006-11-14 }}</ref><ref name="cbc">{{cite news |title=South Africa passes same-sex marriage bill |url=http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/11/14/marriage-safrica.html |work=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |date=[[2006-11-14]] |accessdate=2006-11-14 }}</ref><ref name="globe">{{cite news |author=[[Associated Press]] |title=South African parliament OKs gay marriage |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061114.wsagaymar1114/BNStory/National/home |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=[[2006-11-14]] |accessdate=2006-11-14 }}</ref> |
Accordingly, the government made a last-minute amendment to the Civil Unions Bill, changing it so as to permit the "voluntary union of two persons, which is solemnized and registered by either a marriage or a civil union." MPs from the [[African National Congress]] were required to support the bill, which was passed by the [[National Assembly of South Africa|National Assembly]] 230 to 41 on [[November 14]]. It must now be approved by the [[National Council of Provinces]] and President [[Thabo Mbeki]].<ref name="iafrica">{{cite news |title=Same-sex marriage bill approved |url=http://iafrica.com/news/sa/416904.htm |work=iafrica.com |date=[[2006-11-14]] |accessdate=2006-11-14 }}</ref><ref name="cbc">{{cite news |title=South Africa passes same-sex marriage bill |url=http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2006/11/14/marriage-safrica.html |work=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |date=[[2006-11-14]] |accessdate=2006-11-14 }}</ref><ref name="globe">{{cite news |author=[[Associated Press]] |title=South African parliament OKs gay marriage |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061114.wsagaymar1114/BNStory/National/home |work=[[The Globe and Mail]] |date=[[2006-11-14]] |accessdate=2006-11-14 }}</ref> |
||
==Religious roots of the opposition to same-sex marriages== |
|||
Thus far, the push to create same-sex marriages in South Africa would amount to [[civil union]]s devoid of any religious sanction. Over 80% of South Africans belong to a religious group: (Zion Christian 11.1%, Pentecostal/Charismatic 8.2%, Catholic 7.1%, Methodist 6.8%, Dutch Reformed 6.7%, Anglican 3.8%, other Christian 36%, Islam 1.5%, other 2.3%, unspecified 1.4%, none 15.1% - 2001 census <ref>{{cite web | title= Official CIA statistics | url=https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/fields/2122.html | accessdate= November 16 | accessyear= 2006 }}</ref>.) |
|||
Indeed, the broader public debate over the rejection or acceptance of same-sex marriage by the general public in South Africa, as noted above, requires an understanding of the degree to which South Africa's various population groups have had a historical connection to mainstream Christianity, Islam, and other religions, all of which reject the notion of same-sex marriage as being anti-Biblical or anti-religious. While individuals such as Desmond Tutu may have their personal views, they are not regarded as the definitive spokespeople for Christianity. (See [[Homosexuality and Christianity]].) |
|||
The majority of South Africans belong to Christian churches, such as to the [[Uniting Reformed Church in Southern Africa]], [[Anglican Church of Southern Africa]], [[Methodist Church of Southern Africa]], the [[Zionist Churches]], [[Roman Catholicism in South Africa]] and [[Afrikaner Calvinism]], all of which have neither condoned nor accepted same-sex marriages in their congregations. |
|||
The [[Islam in South Africa|Muslims in South Africa]] are uniformly opposed to accepting same-sex marriages, in keeping with Islamic teachings and Islamic countries world-wide. (See [[Homosexuality and Islam]].) [[History of the Jews in South Africa|Jewish South Africans]] who are mostly alligned with [[Orthodox Judaism]] are opposed to the notion and practice of same-sex-marriages. (See [[Homosexuality and Judaism]].) |
|||
It is therefore no surprise that many religious groups have opposed the proposed law. {{fact}} |
|||
==References== |
==References== |
||
Revision as of 14:30, 16 November 2006
 | This article documents a current event. Information may change rapidly as the event progresses, and initial news reports may be unreliable. The latest updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
| Part of the LGBT rights series |
 LGBT portal |
Same-sex marriage is widely expected to become legal as a civil union in South Africa, following a ruling by the Constitutional Court and a vote by the Parliament of South Africa.[1] The move has also resulted in protests against it within South Africa (see below).
Timeline
2002 High Court of South Africa decision
In July 2002, the High Court of South Africa in the case of Bloemfontein ruled denying same-sex couples the right to marry equally is discriminatory and thus unconstitutional.
This ruling was met with mixed feelings. Many South Africans are very conservative on social issues. The oldest nightclub in Johannesburg, however, was a mixed-race gay club. Known as The Dungeon, it operated for a total of thirty years, and was allowed to remain open throughout the entire apartheid era (known for its crushing civil rights oppression). Bishop Desmond Tutu, who belongs to the Anglican Church in which same-sex marriage is at present a regionally divisive issue, is supportive of homosexuals having equal rights under law. Hume Maxwell started and ran the first gay-friendly mixed-race church in South Africa in the 1980s, and it is still meeting today. Margaret H. Marshall, chief justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court who wrote the majority report in Goodridge v. Department of Public Health guaranteeing same-sex marriage in Massachusetts was born and raised in South Africa.
2004 Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa decision
On November 30, 2004, yet another court ruled in favour of same-sex marriage when the Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa declared that under the Constitution, the common law concept of marriage must be changed to include partners of the same gender.[citation needed]
The case had been brought by Marie Fourie and Cecelia Bonthuys, a lesbian couple seeking the right to marry. In the ruling, Judge Edwin Cameron stated that the definition of marriage should be altered to read: "Marriage is the union of two persons to the exclusion of all others for life."
2005 Constitutional Court of South Africa decision
Constitutional Court of South Africa issued a ruling on 1 December 2005. It ruled that the exclusion of same-sex marriages in South African law "Represented a harsh if oblique statement by the law that same-sex couples are outsiders, and that their need for affirmation and protection of their intimate relations as human beings is somehow less than that of heterosexual couples."[2]
2006 events leading up to legal same-sex marriage
August
On 24 August 2006 South Africa's cabinet approved for submission to the Parliament two alternative draft bills, one of which would create civil unions only for same sex couples, the other of which would create civil unions for both same-sex and opposite-sex couples. In either case, the drafts provided would not legalize same-sex marriage, but would confer on civil unions all of the rights associated with marriage, "with such changes as are required by the context." The bills do not explain what such changes might be. A government spokesperson issued a misleading statement on Aug. 24, claiming that the proposed bill would "basically" create same-sex marriage. The constitutional court's 1 December 2005 decision did not dictate how the Parliament might approach the issue, but did express reservations about any "separate but equal" solution, and indicated that any proposal that created an inferior or marginal status for same-sex unions would not meet constitutional requirements, so the government's proposal might run afoul of the court's opinion. At least one gay rights group in South Africa promptly criticized the government's proposal as creating "sexual apartheid." This action by the cabinet came a week after the South African Parliamentary Committee on Home Affairs had rejected a same-sex marriage constitutional amendment. The opposition African Christian Democratic Party continues to support an amendment that would ban same-sex marriages.[3][4]
The proposal went before the State Law Advisors, which screens laws for form and constitutionality, and the SLA immediately suggested that the law does not comply with constitutional requirements. The office advised that a direct amendment of the Marriage Act would be preferable, but the minister of home affairs insisted that the government would go ahead with the bill anyway, as South African President Thabo Mbeki also proposed.
September
On September 16, thousands of South Africans took to the streets in several cities to protest against same-sex marriage. "Traditional marriages, in which one man and one woman create a lasting community, pass on time-honored family values to secure the future and, therefore, are worthy of protection", said ACDP justice critic Steve Swart, telling the crowd his party would introduce a bill to amend the constitution to ban gay marriage.[5]
On September 20, the government held public hearings on its Civil Unions Bill. Groups opposed to the bill asked the cabinet to request that the Court hold its ruling, so that a Constitutional Amendment that would ban same-sex marriage could be enacted. However, the Government had already rejected such a move. Gay rights groups said that the Civil Unions Bill would create a separate class of citizens, and it would go against the Constitutional Court's decision, which ruled marriage must be legal for same-sex couples one year after its initial ruling. They said they wanted the government to amend the Marriage Act instead. Government spokesperson Themba Maseko said that the cabinet had "noted the discourse on the Civil Unions Bill". "While every individual or group has the right to express their views, the cabinet emphasised the need for everyone to be reminded that the definition of marriage in the Marriage Act was unconstitutional", he said.[6]
October
On October 7, the Marriage Alliance held a protest in Pretoria against same-sex marriage. "The Marriage Alliance is expecting thousands of people to march through the streets of Pretoria, in support of a constitutional amendment that will preserve the traditional definition of marriage", the organisation said in a statement. The alliance was calling on parliament to amend the South African Constitution to ban gay marriage. After the protest, the marchers made their way to the Union Buildings where they handed out a memorandum to government representatives.
On October 9, the African National Congress voted to support the government's same-sex marriage bill. Although the governing party had been split on the issue, the vote means that all ANC MPs will likely support the measure when it comes before Parliament for a vote in October. The full party support came after members of the national executive committee reminded party members that the ANC had fought for human rights, which included gay rights. With the party's full support, there is virtually no chance the bill can be defeated.
Despite the controversy, media reports had not indicated a delay on a vote on the Bill, which was expected on October 20, 2006 in order to allow the National Council of Provinces to process the law ahead of the deadline. However, the vote did not occur.
November
On November 3, a vote on the bill was delayed to allow for further discussion, and the bill was voted on on November 7.
Media reports indicated on November 7 that a key parliamentary committee had postponed a decision on the proposed legislation. According to reports, Patrick Chauke, Chariman of the Home Affairs Portfolio Committee, the vote was now expected on November 10. "Chauke said discussions with parties would continue Wednesday before the bill was completed on Friday. If approved by the committee, the bill will go to the full parliament."[7]
The bill is being hailed by gay and liberal activists as another step forward out of the country's apartheid past, while at the same time religious clergy and traditional lawmakers are stating that the passage of the bill is "the saddest day in our 12 years of democracy." Islamist leader Sheikh Sharif Ahmed has said the bill is a "foreign action imposed on Africa".[8]
To many, it appeared that if the bill was passed as initially written, South Africa would not have legalized same-sex marriage, but would rather have provided for civil unions. Gay activists said that the passage of the Civil Unions Bill as originally written was unconstitutional because it did not allow them the right to marry, as guaranteed by the Constitutional Court ruling.
Accordingly, the government made a last-minute amendment to the Civil Unions Bill, changing it so as to permit the "voluntary union of two persons, which is solemnized and registered by either a marriage or a civil union." MPs from the African National Congress were required to support the bill, which was passed by the National Assembly 230 to 41 on November 14. It must now be approved by the National Council of Provinces and President Thabo Mbeki.[9][10][11]
References
- ^ "S Africa approves same-sex unions". BBC News. BBC. 2006-11-14. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Media summary from the Constitutional Court of South Africa
- ^ "No constitutional amendment on same-sex marriages". South African Broadcasting Corporation. August 16, 2006.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "South Africa's cabinet gives nod to gay marriage". Reuters. August 24, 2006.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Thousands Protest Against South African Gay Marriage Bill". 365gay.com. 2006-09-17. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Carter, Chiara (2006-09-21). "Gay marriage opposers warned by cabinet". The Mercury. p. 2. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Parliamentary committee in South Africa delays decision on civil unions". Pravda. 2006-11-07. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Associated Press (2006-11-15). "Africans cheer and condemn S.Africa gay marriage bil". Scotsman. Retrieved 2006-11-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Same-sex marriage bill approved". iafrica.com. 2006-11-14. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "South Africa passes same-sex marriage bill". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. 2006-11-14. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Associated Press (2006-11-14). "South African parliament OKs gay marriage". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)