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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

Out in South Africa

Gay marriage is legal in 10 countries, including South Africa, but still not in the United States.  

Yes, South Africa, the country that used to be ruled by apartheid, state-enforced segregation of racial groups.

Even they have legalized gay marriage.

Four years ago, on Nov. 30, 2006, South Africa became the first country in the Southern hemisphere to legalize same-sex marriages.

Since then, many gay couples from all around the world have flocked to this exotic getaway to tie the knot.

South Africa has a sense of intrigue for many Westerners. Many vacation there to spot wildlife, watch a World Cup match and even to have their same-sex wedding ceremony.

In addition to legalizing same-sex marriage, South Africa also outlawed discrimination based on one’s sexual orientation and afforded homosexual and heterosexual individuals the same rights to adoption and military service.

These critical changes occurred because of the diligence of organizations like The Gay Association of South Africa and the Rand Gay Organization during the 1970s.

However, these changes have not come silently or without protest from many vocal heterosexual South Africans.

Prior to South African’s new constitution in 1996, engaging in homosexual acts was illegal, as it still is in many other parts of Africa

South Africa has made great strides in the past decade toward curbing prejudices of any kind against others.

Here is a country that has had probably one of the worst histories of equality, and yet now it is really living up to its human rights charter.

In this post-apartheid era, they have vigilantly fought to end inequality based on race, creed, gender or sexual orientation. I applaud them for their efforts.

Though these drastic changes in terms of laws are great steps in the right direction, by no means do I think the situation for the gay community in South Africa is perfect.

Their struggle for equality has only just begun.

More than 3,000 gay couples have had marriage ceremonies in South Africa, according to a recent article in the Cape Town Journal. Many of these marriages reflect relationships where foreigners were involved.

This shows that though gay marriage is legal, being gay in South Africa, especially outside the big cities, is still considered pretty taboo.

There are also many very vocal critics of the bill, most notably South Africa’s current president, Jacob Zuma.

This also suggests that gay rights in practice have a long way to go.

Though a law allowing gay marriage and providing for gay rights is wonderful, it is far more important that these words are implemented in the everyday lives of South African citizens around the country.

South Africans still have much more to do, especially in rural spaces, but they have come so far already, and they are trying their best to change the mindsets of people.

In the past few months, Americans have spent a great deal of time debating same-sex marriage. Many people are letting their religious views get in the way of what should be universal American views.

This has caused many tragedies, most notably in recent weeks with the death of young gay individuals like Tyler Clementi from Rutgers University and Raymond Chase, a 19-year-old from Rhode Island.

We cannot continue to allow bullying and marginalization of homosexual individuals to exist in this country.

America was founded on the basis of equality.

We, like South Africa, have made a lot of mistakes in our pursuit of life, liberty and happiness for all Americans.

But now is our chance to show what we are really made of as a country.

We, the freedom fighters, must fight for equality for our own gay citizens here in the United States. We need to follow the example of South Africa.

Maybe we should take a hint from South African Judge Edwin Cameron , who said the definition of marriage should be altered to read: “Marriage is the union of two persons to the exclusion of all others for life.”

Whether you are in Johannesburg or Bloomington, you deserve the right to marry whomever you love.


E-mail: tmkennel@indiana.edu

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