South Africa's highest court rules in favor of gay marriage
南非最高法院作出對同性婚姻有利的判決
摘要：南非最高法院判決，禁止同性結婚違憲，要求國會於一年內修正只准
一男一女結婚的法律規定。
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) _ The country's highest court has
ruled that preventing gay people from marrying is unconstitutional,
paving the way for South Africa to become the first to legalize
same-sex unions on a continent where homosexuality remains largely
taboo.
The Constitutional Court on Thursday gave Parliament a year to
make the necessary legal changes, disappointing some activists _
some of whom have been waiting years to marry.
"We were thinking we would be calling our friends today and
inviting them to our wedding," said Fikile Vilakazi, of the Forum
for the Empowerment of Women, who proposed to her partner more than
six months ago. "Now they are asking us to wait another year."
Thursday's ruling was in response to an appeal by the government
against a Supreme Court ruling last year that said a lesbian
couple's union should be recognized. There was no immediate comment
on the decision from government officials.
Marie Fourie and Cecelia Bonthuys, a couple from Pretoria,
brought the original application after the government refused to
recognize their October 2002 wedding on the basis of the common law
definition of marriage. They were not present in court Thursday.
South Africa recognized the rights of gay people in the
constitution adopted after apartheid ended in 1994 － the first in
the world to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation. But government has opposed attempts to extend the
definition of marriage in court to include same-sex couples in the
mostly Christian country.
Married couples have numerous rights still denied to gay couples,
including the ability to make decisions on each other's behalf in
medical emergencies, and inheritance rights if a partner dies
without a will.
Judge Albie Sachs, who delivered Thursday's ruling, said the
common law and Marriage Act definitions of marriage as a union
between a man and a woman "are accordingly inconsistent with
sections ... of the Constitution to the extent that they make no
provision for same-sex couples to enjoy the status, entitlements and
responsibilities they accord to heterosexual couples."
The court instructed Parliament to extend the definitions within
a year, or else the words "or spouse" would automatically be added
by the courts, The South African Press Association reported.
Judge Kate O'Regan agreed with the other 10 members of the court
that same-sex marriage should be legal, but argued in a separate
opinion that the court should effect the changes immediately, a view
shared by gay rights groups.
Vilakazi worried lawmakers could attempt to water down the
decision by introducing a different category of marriage for
same-sex couples. Proposals previously mooted in Parliament include
the introduction of "civil unions", which would provide the same
legal benefits as marriage but would not oblige religious
institutions to solemnize them, she told The Associated Press.
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