SA to debate gay marriage

2006-09-21 09:20

Soweto - For most of the continent, the subject is strictly taboo, but a parliamentary roadshow to discuss a bill to legalise gay marriage has highlighted an appetite for debate.

Public hearings over government bills are usually held in the oak-panelled and carpet-lined committee rooms at the parliament's headquarters in Cape Town.

But for the next few weeks, members of the public are being given the chance to come face-to-face with lawmakers on their own patch, including in the sprawling township of Soweto, on the outskirts of Johannesburg.

For decades, Soweto was synonymous with the fight against the apartheid regime when its black citizens were denied a voice in the government of their country.

But in a small community centre in the heart of Soweto earlier this week, scores of people turned up to join in an impassioned debate on the civil union bill conducted in English, Zulu and Sotho.

'It's a shock'

The government has had to introduce legislation regulating same sex partnerships after the country's highest court ruled in December that existing laws unconstitutionally discriminated against gays and lesbians by failing to guarantee them the same rights as heterosexual couples.

All participants at the hearings are presented with a 10-page draft of the bill, spelling out the proposals on what are termed 'civil partnerships'.

Patrick Chauke, a deputy from the ruling African National Congress (ANC) and head of the parliament's home affairs committee, took the chair for the hearing in Soweto.

"Whatever contribution you are going to make is going to be taken into account," Chauke told the participants.

Bontle Setshogoe, a member of the ANC's women's league, was one of the first to voice her objections to the proposed new law.

"As a black nation, for us it's a shock," she said. "We have children who are growing up. What are we supposed to say to these children?"

Men and women of all ages strode purposefully to the microphone in the centre of the room to make their contribution to the debate.

"We come from a history of apartheid, a history of division and segregation," said Fikile Vilakazi, a 32-year-old lesbian who was wearing an orange t-shirt with the slogan "Equal marriage for all, nothing less".

"When we say heterosexuals and homosexuals should use different institutions ... aren't we reintroducing that system of division and segregation?" said Vilakazi. "Why don't we just put all this under one marriage act?"

Polar opposite views came from a raft of religious groups who are fiercely opposed to any suggestion of legalising gay marriage.

"We uncompromisingly believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman," said Pastor Mosa Sono, from the Grace Bible Church in Soweto.

"We find it very tragic that the bill has been rushed so much, without ample participation from the people of South Africa."

Similar public debates are due to take place in the coming days in eight other provinces before the new legislation is submitted for parliamentary approval on October 20.

- AFP