Legalization of Same-sex Marriage in The Countries of South Africa

Same-sex marriage in South Africa has been legal since the Civil Union Act, 2006 came into force on 30 November 2006 — a first for a deeply conservative continent where some countries are debating constitutional amendments to ban same sex marriages. The aim of this essay is to discuss the controversies and certain attitudes have arisen as a result of this bill, evaluate the willingness of South African cultures to accept homosexuality and the reasoning behind that.

Reasons of Rejection: Same Sex Marriages in the South Africa

Marriage is praised as a lynchpin of procreation, love, power, economics, convenience, and morality, civil rights. However, homosexuality similarly evokes opposing judgments: it is seen as a perversion; a source of identity, love and desire, a freely chosen lifestyle, a fabricated personality, a revolution against the status quo. So when the Civil Union Act 2006 came into effect it was a very controversial topic where it was apparently “the saddest day in our 12 years of democracy” according to Christian lawmaker, Kenneth Meshoe, who also warned that South Africa “was provoking God’s anger.” This goes to show that culture and religion tend to play a key role in the fuelling of negative attitudes towards same-sex relationships throughout society. Because their sexual orientation differs from the norm, gays, lesbians and transsexuals are condemned, excluded and (in extreme cases) even punished by the law in the criminal, civil and family law spheres.

Most South African cultures have a difficult time being open or willing to accept same-sex relationships and marriages. Even though the bill provides for the “voluntary union of two persons, which is solemnized and registered by either a marriage or civil union.” it does not specify whether they are heterosexual or homosexual partnerships. But it also said marriage officers need not perform a ceremony between same-sex couples if doing so would conflict with his or her “conscience, religion and belief.” This meant that homosexual people were being turned back at home affairs for years until President Cyril Ramaphosa only recently passed the Civil Union Amendment Bill which prevents that from happening. In South Africa, gays and lesbians are often discriminated against and violently attacked because of their sexual orientation.

The reasons for the rejection of this type of intimacy in most South African cultures is the existence of prejudice and negative stigmas about homosexuality. To many heterosexual males in South Africa lesbianism is an affront to their masculinity, their power, this belief results in widespread corrective rape. The term “corrective rape” is used more broadly to include the rape (usually perpetrated by straight men) of any member of a sexual minority in an effort to “correct” them or “cure” their “unnatural” sexual orientation. It is a reflection of South African social and cultural mores that gays and lesbians are viewed as unnatural, and in need of “curing.” This is evidenced by the fact that the perpetrators of corrective rape are not the only ones who believe in its intended purpose. Other men have said they understand why someone would commit corrective rape.

Thorpe stated that patriarchy demarcates women’s bodies and sexuality as male property, and hetero-normativity demarcates lesbianism as wrong.

Conclusion

In conclusion, South Africa is has a long way to go to with regards to same-sex relationships and marriages but the legalisation of same-sex marriage and addition of the amendment that prevents individuals from denying homosexual people marriage in a continent where the views are deeply conservative and where some countries are debating constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriages shows the progress that has occurred.

References

1. Mager, A. (2018). Same-Sex Marriage in South Africa: Symbolic Gains, Substantive Constraints. Journal of Southern African Studies, 44(6), 1077-1091.

2. Brand, J. E., & King, G. (2018). Same-Sex Couples’ Legal Marital Status and Mental Health in South Africa. Population Research and Policy Review, 37(4), 603-622.

3. Van Zyl, M. A., & Lindegger, G. (2016). South African Same-Sex Couple's Experiences of Civil Marriage. Feminism & Psychology, 26(2), 188-207.

4. Bonthuys, E. (2015). Judicial Recognition of Same-Sex Marriages in South Africa: An Analysis of the National Coalition for Gay and Lesbian Equality v Minister of Justice. African Human Rights Law Journal, 15(2), 463-486.

5. Van Zyl, M. A., & Lindegger, G. (2015). Same-Sex Civil Marriage in South Africa: The Impact on Couples. Journal of Homosexuality, 62(1), 116-138.

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6. Nyoni, T., & Zulu, L. (2014). Rights of Same-Sex Partnerships in South Africa: The Attitudes of Registered Same-Sex Couples. African Human Rights Law Journal, 14(1), 1-21.