Politics
Tuesday November 28, 2006
See today's LifeSiteNews stories
South Africa Upper House says Yes to Homosexual “Marriage”
Court warned that law must be changed or court would change law automatically
By Hilary White
PRETORIA, November 28, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – South Africa’s National Council of Provinces has voted to support the Civil Union Bill that will make homosexual liaisons the equivalent of marriage. The bill was passed earlier this month in the National Assembly.
Should President Thabo Mbeki sign the bill into law, South Africa will become the first in the continent to have legalized homosexual unions.
The bill followed a 2004 decision from South Africa’s Constitutional Court. The court ruled that the current definition of marriage was discriminatory against homosexuals under the country’s Constitution, called by Reuters “one of the most liberal in the world.”
The bill will change the marriage definition to a “voluntary union of two persons, which is solemnised and registered by either a marriage or civil union.” The Court warned that if the country’s parliament did not take action, the law would be changed automatically.
The ruling African National Congress (ANC) put the bill forward despite what Reuter’s news agency called “serious reservations” among some of the party’s most senior members.
Public opposition is also strong with nearly 80 per cent of South Africa’s population being Christian.
Read previous LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
As South Africa Approves Homosexual 'Marriage' , Tanzania Reaffirms Stand for Traditional Marriage
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2006/nov/06111705.html
Back to TopSHARE THIS STORY: E-mail Print Newsvine Digg Reddit Del.icio.us Facebook
Latest Headlines
- Australian Health Minister Fires Men’s Health Ambassador for Documenting Risks of Homosexuality
- IKEA’s Polish Catalogue Introduces “Ian and Steve” as a Model of the New Family
- Abortion Increases Women's Mental Health Problems: New Study
- Conservative Attorney General Seeks to Quash Morgentaler Order of Canada Challenge
- Purchase of Christmas Music CD By Pro-Life Priest is Great Way to Support LifeSiteNews
- EU Rejects Patent that “Necessarily Involves the Use and Destruction of Human Embryos”
- South Korean Court Orders Removal of Life Support from Comatose Woman
- The Power of a Bold Bishop
- God is Pro-Choice Says Nun
- Danish Study Shows almost 50% More Down's Children Eugenically Aborted with New Screening Options
- Letters to the Editor for Monday, December 1, 2008
- LifeSiteNews.com NewsBytes
Most Read this Week
- Behind the Scenes of Volition: Coincidences and Startling Circumstances
- Ad Showing Woman Seducing Santa Promotes Free Morning-After Pills and Condoms for Christmas
- Belgian Couple Sells Baby on EBay
- Leading Canadian Pro-Life MP Relates Shocking 20 Year Lack of Support From Catholic Clergy
- Naming the Anti-Life Appointments in the Obama Administration
- Cardinal on Biblical Condemnation of Homosexuality: We're Not Allowed the Cowardice of "Politically Correct" Silence
- A Painful, Disease-Ridden Death Isn’t So Bad if You’re Just a White, Heterosexual Male
- Film Review: Volition
- Just In Time for Christmas - Gift Cards for Abortions from Planned Parenthood
- Abortion Now Number One Cause of Death in Spain
MORE NEWS: 
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page Last 10 Days Archives Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.