10 000 gays set to wed en masse
2005-12-07 00:02
Cape Town - Dominee Andre Muller is going to preach, then read the marriage vows, ask 5 000 couples if they
agree and, if they do, 10 000 gays will say "I do".
Muller, of the Reformingd Church in Pretoria, said they were
planning the first mass weddings for gay couples in South Africa for an estimated 5 000 couples for December next year when
same-sex marriage was legalised.
The South African Mass Gay and Lesbian (Samgal) marriage committee was still looking for three venues which would be large enough for the weddings - one in Gauteng, one in Durban and the third in Cape Town, where the Green Point Stadium is an option.
The Durban ceremony is being planned for December 1 2006, the one in Gauteng for December 2, and the one in Cape Town for December 3.
Muller is to conduct all three ceremonies.
He said earlier this week: "It won't normally happen like this, but a big injustice has been done for many years, and we have a huge backlog to catch up on."
Johannes Ludick, one of the members on the committee of five
who are organising the weddings, said: "For us gay people, this is the biggest happening since democracy.
"Gay people feel part of the new South Africa for the first time."