South African Supremes OK
same-sex marriage
South Africa's Supreme Court of Appeal Nov. 30 declared the opposite-sex, common-law definition of marriage unconstitutional. South Africa's post-apartheid Constitution bans all discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Marié Fourie and Cecelia Bonthuys of Pretoria sued to have their 2002 union recognized as a marriage after the Department of Home Affairs refused to register it. In an earlier ruling, the Pretoria High Court had sided with the department.
Judge of Appeal Edwin Cameron, who is openly gay and openly HIV-positive, wrote that the definition of marriage must be rewritten to read, 'Marriage is the union of two persons to the exclusion of all others for life.'
The Supreme Court's 4-1 ruling has immediate effect on the definition of marriage but several marriage-related laws still need to be changed. Gay activists said they will file legal actions to speed up that process.
'We have to go ahead with legal action to fix up those somewhat more minor legal problems and we foresee that within the next 12 months or so, same-sex couples will indeed be married,' said Evert Knoesen of the Lesbian and Gay Equality Project.
Full same-sex marriage is legal in Belgium, the Netherlands, six Canadian provinces, one Canadian territory, and the U.S. state of Massachusetts.
Nigerian couple
may be stoned
A Nigerian man is in custody and his rumored male lover is on the lam after Muslim youth reportedly forced the first man to confess to 'homosexualism,' the Vanguard newspaper reported Nov. 28.
A Shariah court in Keffi issued a bench warrant for construction-company supervisor Michael Ifediora Nwokomah after businessman Mallam Abdullahi Ibrahim allegedly acknowledged that the couple has been having sex 'for some time,' the newspaper said.
The Vanguard said Ibrahim confessed after the youths 'almost lynched' him. The local district head intervened to halt the lynching and turned Ibrahim over to police.
Nwokomah was at work and went into hiding when he heard what had happened, the report said.
Trial will be delayed until the two men can be tried together, the paper said. Punishment is death by stoning.