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More bling for gay couple
15/12/2006 15:52 - (SA)
Cape Town - There was a sense of deja vu on Friday as Africa's first gay couple to be legally married had wedding rings slipped onto their fingers - again.
Conservationists Vernon Gibbs, 38, and his partner of eight
years, Tony Halls, 52, beat the rush to marry on December 1 when
South Africa became the first country on the continent to
legalise same-sex marriages.
On Friday, the newlyweds drove hundreds of kilometres from
their home in Riversdale east of Cape Town to collect two
specially made rings from Uwe Koetter Jewellers.
"Gosh, they are lovely," enthused Gibbs as his eyes fell on
the 18 karat gold ring, with brilliant cut white diamond
seemingly suspended between two bands of gold.
The unisex rings, which designer and Koetter co-owner Johan
Louw fashioned, were not seen nor fitted in person by the two men
before Friday's meeting.
Corresponding by e-mail, Gibbs and Halls both chose the same
design submitted among many by Louw.
"It depicts so much about unity and bonding with the
tenderness of the solitaire diamond seemingly loose but joining
the two metals. There seems to be something really fragile yet
incredibly strong about it," the married couple wrote to Louw
when choosing their rings.
Louw said his jewellers received some hate mail, mostly from
the religious right, opposing the company's decision to make the
rings, together valued at more than R30 000.
"I don't want to call it a publicity stunt because to me its
a big thing. We've come a long way in this country over the last
10 years, and I see it as a continuation of liberalisation of
human expression in this country," Louw said.
Gibbs and Halls were married in a magistrate's office in George with rings they first used in a commitment ceremony in 2002.
- Reuters
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