Call to oust anti-gay marriage officers

Refusal to wed same-sex couples not ‘constitutionally acceptable’

GAY RIGHTS organisations and some political parties are calling for an amendment to legislation allowing marriage officers at Home Affairs to refuse to officiate gay marriages. Of the 1131 marriage officers at Home Affairs offices, 421 were so far exempted from performing civil unions.

Cope MP Deidre Carter said the issue came to their attention and they felt they needed to have it addressed. The party lodged a private members’ bill seeking to amend the Civil Union Act.

The bill aims to repeal section 6 of the Civil Union Act 17 of 2006, which allows a marriage officer in the employ of the state to inform the Minister of Home Affairs that he or she objects on the grounds of conscience, religion and belief to solemnising a civil union between people of the same sex – and to be exempted from officiating.

Carter said same-sex couples seeking the services of a marriage office were being turned away from some Home Affairs offices, particularly in rural areas, as all the marriage officers at those offices had been exempted in terms of section 6 of the act from officiating.

“This provision is un constitutional for a number of reasons. Our Bill of Rights provides that the state may not unfairly discriminate directly or indirectly against anyone on a number of grounds, including gender, sex and sexual orientation.”

Carter also said that in the constitution, Chapter 10 states that public service must be provided “impartially, fairly, equitably and without bias. Clearly, it cannot be constitutionally acceptable or permissible that public servants can be exempted on any grounds from providing services to certain sectors of our society, in this instance for designated marriage officers to solemnise same-sex couple marriages”.

Sharon Cox, health and support services manager at Triangle Project, said they support the move to amend the act.

“The way it stands now, it is very discriminatory. A person employed by the state who happens to have a position at Home Affairs can refuse and this is often found in religious or cultural belief.

“In my own submission to Parliament, there is not any denomination that will marry same-sex couples, even if the clergy is progressive.

“None of us can be married inside a church. One is left with finding a clergy licensed to wed a same-sex couple or find a Home Affairs office, then get there and then be denied. It’s not constitutional.”

She said the act affected mostly people in rural areas, who had no other way to get married. “It’s all well to say we have this great constitution and have the right to enter a civil union, but then you have to struggle to get someone to officiate this civil union. This (act) gives people the right to discriminate and this is why we are in favour of the submission.

Home Affairs did not respond to calls for comment.