Some News from South Africa

Same-sex marriage now legal in South Africa

Story Highlights

•Civil Union Act makes South Africa fifth nation in world to legalize gay marriage
•Church hopes to perform first same-sex ceremony on Saturday
•Homosexuality still outlawed in much of sub-Saharan Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) -- With the deputy president's signature on a new law, South Africa on Thursday became the first country in Africa and only the fifth in the world to legalize same-sex marriages.

The Civil Union Act entered into force on the eve of a December 1 deadline set by the Constitutional Court for the government to change its marriage legislation to ensure full equality for gays and lesbians.

Gay rights groups have welcomed the law, although they criticized provisions allowing clergy and civil marriage officers to turn away gay couples if their consciences prevented them from marrying them.

Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka signed the law in her capacity as acting president because President Thabo Mbeki is in Nigeria.

South Africa recognized the rights of gay people in the constitution adopted after apartheid ended in 1994, at a time when leaders were determined to bury all kinds of legal discrimination a thing. The constitution, the first in the world to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, provides a powerful legal tool for gay rights activists even though South Africa remains conservative on such issues.

The governing African National Congress had to push the legislation through despite reservations from some of its own members. Influential traditional leaders said the legislation violated African cultural norms. The Roman Catholic Church and Muslim groups -- and many other religious organizations -- denounced it as violating the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman. The Anglican church said it was up to individual ministers to decide whether to use the "opt out" clause, while liberal churches like the Metropolitan Churches Community were in favor.

The National Assembly passed the legislation earlier this month and the National Council of Provinces approved it on Tuesday. Mlambo-Ngcuka's signature was the final legal step.

"There will be a huge response from same-sex couples who have waited such a long time for their relationship to be recognized," predicted Melanie Judge of the lesbian and gay project, OUT.

Janine Pressman, a pastor with the Glorious Light Metropolitan Community Churches in the capital, Pretoria, said she hoped to marry a couple on Saturday, provided the paperwork could be rushed through.

Priests wanting to wed same sex couples at a religious ceremony have to apply for permission from the Home Affairs Ministry and possibly undergo exams to get their license, ministry spokesman Jacky Mashapu said.

This could take two to three weeks, he said. But he added that the ministry wanted to speed through the applications.

Civil unions, without a religious component, could be performed virtually on the spot, subject to completion of the proper paperwork, he said.

"We are ready to go," Mashapu said.

The Civil Union Act provides for the "voluntary union of two persons, which is solemnized and registered by either a marriage or civil union."

Radio talk shows and newspaper columns have highlighted opposition to same-sex marriages in a country where gays and lesbians are victims of violent attacks because of their sexual orientation.

South Africa is only the fifth country in the world to legalize gay marriages. It is the first in Africa, where homosexuality is illegal in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana and most other sub-Saharan countries.

Judge, from OUT, said the public reaction had "forced us to confront the deep-seated prejudice and intolerance against gays and lesbians. It's a day to day reality," she said.

"It's been quite a frightening process to see the level of hatred that has been openly expressed against this minority," she said.