South African Parliament Legalizes Civil Unions

The South African Parliament passed the Civil Union bill on Tuesday, which extends basic freedoms to homosexual couples. Supporters of the bill had to overcome criticism from both gay activists and traditionalists, as well as warnings that the legislation may not be constitutional. African National Congress veterans said that the bill is reminiscent of the country’s liberation from the shackles of apartheid.

"When we attained our democracy, we sought to distinguish ourselves from an unjust painful past, by declaring that never again shall it be that any South African will be discriminated against on the basis of color, creed culture and sex," Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told the National Assembly.

The bill is not limited solely to gay couples. The language of 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 homosexual partnerships. However, it also says marriage officers are not required to perform a ceremony between same-sex couples if doing so would conflict with an officer’s "conscience, religion and belief." Gay rights groups objected to this "opt-out" clause, saying they should be treated the same as heterosexual couples.

The Civil Union Bill was finalized after months of heated public discussion, and was passed by the National Assembly with a vote of 230 to 41, with three abstentions. The bill must now be approved by the National Council of Provinces, which should be just a formality before it is signed into law by President Thabo Mbeki.

The bill was created in response to a Constitutional Court ruling last December said that the country’s existing marriage laws were unconstitutional, because they discriminated against same-sex couples. The court gave the government until December 1 to change the laws, or else same-sex marriages would be legalized by default if the government didn’t address the issue before then. "In order to give effect to the Constitutional Court ruling, same-sex couples have to be allowed to marry so that they can enjoy the status, obligations and entitlements enjoyed at the moment by opposite sex couples," Mapisa-Nqakula said.

South Africa first recognized the rights of gay people in the new constitution the country adopted after apartheid ended in 1994. It was the first country in the world to enact legislation to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In other African countries, homosexuality is considered taboo. It is illegal in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana and most other sub-Saharan countries.

Gay rights groups in Europe are hailing South Africa’s legislation, saying it is an example of progressiveness. But a Christian lawmaker, Kenneth Meshoe, said that the ratification of the bill is "the saddest day in our 12 years of democracy," and warned that South Africa "was provoking God’s anger."