Religious beliefs are no longer allowed as on objection to solemnising same-sex partnerships and rightly so
Public officials may no longer object to solemnising same-sex marriages and unions. This was the recent decision taken by the South African Parliament. The Civil Union Amendment Bill has now been sent to the president to be assented .It is a momentous decision, albeit long overdue, that does away with a significant obstacle to the equal treatment of same-sex couples and reinforces a central imperative of our constitutional design: public officials must treat everyone equally.
In a country where legal recognition of same-sex marriage has, to some extent, preceded public acceptance, this section had the effect of, in certain cases, stripping same-sex couples of the opportunity to marry because of the unwillingness of some public marriage officers to officiate over their marriage ceremonies. That essentially defeated the purpose of the CUA which was enacted to allow same-sex couples to solemnise their unions.
As a result, several civil society organisations, lawyers and activists objected strongly to allowing civil marriage officers to decide which marriages to solemnise. Since the repeal of this provision was passed by the National Assembly almost two years ago, there had been a long delay before it was finally passed by the National Council of Provinces on July 1 this year.
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