Sep 06, 2006Articles: South African Conservatives To Show Anti-Gay Muscle
By VZ
(Cape Town, South Africa) As the South African government prepares to take up legislation to allow same-sex couples to marry a coalition of conservative churches is preparing to hold protests across the country.
(Cape Town, South Africa) As the South African government prepares to take up legislation to allow same-sex couples to marry a coalition of conservative churches is preparing to hold protests across the country.
The mass demonstrations, to be staged simultaneously on September 16, are being organized by the Marriage Alliance of South Africa. Organizers say they will have tens of thousands of people out on the streets to oppose gay marriage.
"Christians who view marriage as the primary building block of healthy communities and the nation, and regard their marriage vows as the sacred union of one man and one woman, are called to join," said the Rev. Moss Ntlha a spokesperson for the group.
Last December the Constitutional Court, the highest court in South Africa, ruled that it is unconstitutional to deny gay and lesbian couples the right to marry.
The court ordered Parliament to amend marriage laws within 12 months. If it fails to act within that timeframe, the court said the ruling would automatically change the law to include same-sex unions.
Currently, the law defines marriage as "the union of one man with one woman, to the exclusion of others".
South Africa's cabinet last month gave its approval to a bill granting full marriage to same-sex couples. The legislation will also give rights to domestic partners who do not wish, or cannot, marry - both same-sex and opposite-sex.
The bill now moves on to public hearings this month and will be enacted before the court imposed deadline a government spokesperson said.
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.
South Africa's post-apartheid constitution states that gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender individuals have the same rights as any other individual. Section 9 of the Constitution outlaws discrimination in South Africa based on sexual orientation.
