South Africa’s high court approves gay marriage

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa — South Africa’s highest court ruled Thursday that samesex marriages enjoy the same legal status as those between men and women, effectively making the nation one of just five worldwide that have removed legal barriers to gay and lesbian unions.

But the Constitutional Court, as the high court is known, effectively stayed its ruling for one year to give the Parliament time to amend a 1961 marriage law to reflect its decision. Should the legislature balk, the court said, the law will be automatically changed to make its provisions gender-neutral.

Few expect the Parliament to resist, even though African nations are generally intolerant of gay relationships and many South Africans are conservative on social issues. Among political factions here, only the tiny African Christian Democratic Party, whose positions carry a strong religious undercurrent, called for a constitutional amendment to bar gay marriages.

Canada, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain are the only nations that now allow gay marriage nationwide.

The Constitutional Court’s ruling expanded on a 2004 decision by the national Supreme Court of Appeal that affirmed the marriage of a lesbian couple, who were nonetheless unable to register their union with the government’s Home Affairs department. The government had appealed the ruling, arguing that the Supreme Court had encroached on Parliament’s authority to make laws.

But the Constitutional Court said that the refusal to give legal status to gay marriages, though grounded in common law, violated the constitution’s guarantee of equal rights.