# South Africa legalizes same-sex marriage

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-africa-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/333644>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 2, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-africa-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/333644 "2005-12-02T00:09:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-africa-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/333644/1 "2005-12-02T00:09:14Z")

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Remember when it used to be that the United States could look down on South Africa as a bastion of bigotry and intolerance?

[SA highest court: barring same-sex marriage unconstitutional](http://www.365gay.com/Newscon05/12/120105safMarr.htm).

The court unfortunately did not immediately require that SSM be recognized; instead, it gave Parliament a year to amend the necessary laws.

Congratulations to the people of South Africa, and to Marie Fourie and Cecilia Bonthuys and the other couples who joined the suit on a tremendous victory!

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**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-africa-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/333644/2 "2005-12-02T03:13:02Z")

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From an articale at the NY Times website:

> [@](#):
>
> “It’s not one of our political fault lines,” said Steven E. Friedman, a top political analyst at Johannesburg’s Center for Political Studies, a nonprofit research center. “…The party of social conservatism is the African Christian Democratic Party, which wins 1 percent of the vote. And that’s the group of people who feel that this justifies amending the constitution.”

Ah, the benefits of a multi-party system!

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**Author:** ![irishgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@irishgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/irishgirl)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-africa-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/333644/3 "2005-12-02T10:08:29Z")

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See, this is what happens when you outlaw discrimination due to sexual orientation, people actually expect the law to reflect that :rolleyes:

Good for SA, if they can do it, the UK can legalise civil unions without any fuss, and Canada and various parts of Europe are coping perfectly well with same-sex unions, the USA is going to look and feel increasingly backward and isolated.

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**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-africa-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/333644/4 "2005-12-02T11:29:47Z")

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Yeah, I think it’s pretty cool. Surprises me a little, because as an American living in SA, the general attitude towards homosexuality seems a little more backwards than in the States. It’s the same with racism. It’s wonderful that the days of apartheid are gone, but the general atmosphere is still somewhat equivalent to 1950s America, in my opinion.

But, that’s just in my experience. I may have been unfortunate enough to only have come across some seriously bigoted people, but if so, they’re pretty damn pervasive.

Either way, I’m thrilled that SA has taken this step.

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**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-africa-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/333644/5 "2005-12-02T19:16:02Z")

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Rock. 🆒

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**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\
**Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/south-africa-legalizes-same-sex-marriage/333644/6 "2005-12-02T22:32:09Z")

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> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#):
>
> Either way, I’m thrilled that SA has taken this step.

Heck, I didn’t even know Something Awful had a constitution.