S. Africa approves gay-marriage bill
From the Chicago Tribune
By Clare Nullis
Associated Press
Published November 15, 2006
The bill was drafted to comply with a Constitutional Court ruling last December that said existing marriage legislation was unconstitutional because it discriminated against same-sex couples. The court set a Dec. 1 deadline for parliament to change the law.
"When we attained our democracy, we sought to distinguish ourselves from an unjust, painful past by declaring that never again shall it be that any South African will be discriminated against on the basis of color, creed, culture and sex," Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula said.
Homosexuality is illegal in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ghana and most other sub-Saharan countries. Some countries are debating constitutional amendments to ban same-sex marriages. Even in South Africa, gays and lesbians often are attacked because of their sexual orientation.
South africa even has some minority groups that have a coulture that make's it possible for woman to divorce their husbands and live with a woman partner. The interesting part is that it has been that way for hundreds of years.
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