Gay marriages get thumbs up

2005-12-01 10:46

Johannesburg - South Africa's highest court on Thursday ruled in favour of same-sex marriages, striking down a law that banned gay unions and ordering parliament to draft new legislation within a year.

"The common law definition of marriage is declared to be inconsistent with the constitution and invalid to the extent that it does not permit same-sex couples to enjoy the status and benefits it accords heterosexual couples," said Justice Albie Sachs in a ruling delivered by the constitutional court.

The decision followed a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling in November 2004 that said same-sex couples could get married following an application by lesbian couple Marie Fourie and Cecilia Bonthuys.

It requested that the courts change the common-law definition of marriage from being a "union between a man and a woman" to a "union between two persons".

But the constitutional court judge said it was up to parliament to make the necessary changes.

Recognition of same-sex marriages would put South Africa in the same league as the Netherlands and Belgium, which have enacted legislation granting gay and lesbian couples the same rights as heterosexual ones.

A number of European countries - Denmark, France, Iceland, Norway and Sweden - offer a similar legal status to same-sex marriages as civil unions.

- AFP