Today is a historic day in South Africa. The “satanic” gays have “provoked God’s anger” on this, the “saddest day in our 12 years of democracy” (Kenneth Meshoe, Christian lawmaker) by voting to legalize gay marriages. S. Africa is the first African country to do so, and in my opinion will be the last for quite some time.
Nelson Mandela is largely to thank for South Africa’s wonderful new laws on gays. Mandela’s chauffeur before going to jail was gay and his chauffeur (who was white) was of enormous help to Mandela while he was in jail. So this good man’s kindness to Mandela helped to make Mandela determined to bring justice to South Africa’s gays.
I disagree with your comment that it may be a long time before another country grants equal, legal recognition of gay marriages. Taiwan is close to taking this step now. And many other countries could “upgrade” their gay marriage laws any time. Mexico City just voted to give legal recognition to gay marriages last week, and a state in northern Mexico is now considering following suit.
Wow what a surprise reversal of events! However, I wonder if anyone will take the government back to the constitutional court because although the “Civil Unions” Bill was rewritten at the 11th hour to include the word ‘marriage,’ gay marriages are still regulated separately from straight ones, which fall under the Marriage Act.
But seeing as this entire process has only highlighted how intolerant and homophobic South African society is in general, this seems like a good compromise for the time being.