| Same-sex marriage
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| Performed nationwide in:
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| Belgium
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| Netherlands
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| Performed in some regions in:
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| Canada: BC, MB, NL, NS, ON, QC, SK, YT
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| United States: MA
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| Articles on other countries and regions:
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| Australia
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| Canada: AB, NB, NT, NU, PE
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| France
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| Ireland
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| Romania
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| South Africa
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| Spain
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| United Kingdom
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| United States: CA
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| See also
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| Civil union
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| Domestic partnership
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| Edit this box (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Template:SSM)
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In July of 2002 the High Court of South Africa in Bloemfontein ruled that to deny same-sex couples the right to marry equally is discriminatory and thus unconstitutional. Certain benefits have since been extended to same-sex couples in South Africa, which was until 1994 a highly restricted Apartheid state.
This ruling has been met with mixed feelings and much opposition. Many white South Africans, particularly Afrikaners, are very conservative on social issues. In addition, indigenous African societies tend to view homosexuality as associated with ukuthakatha (witchcraft).
On November 30, 2004, yet another court ruled in favour of same-sex marriage when the South African Supreme Court of Appeal declared that under the Constitution, the common law concept of marriage must be changed to include partners of the same gender. [1] (http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/11/113004safWed.htm) The case had been brought by Marie Fourie and Cecelia Bonthuys, a lesbian couple seeking the right to marry. In the ruling, Judge Edwin Cameron stated that the definition of marriage should be altered to read: "Marriage is the union of two persons to the exclusion of all others for life."
Like the 2002 ruling by the High Court, this decision does not automatically extend marriage to same-sex couples. It is still not certain if the current government has any plans to do so.
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