ANC rams Civil Union Bill through committee stage

The approved version of the Bill makes the term \'civil union\' the same as \'marriage\' and wherever one appears, so too does the other. The report notes that this approval is a direct rejection of the masses of submissions from religious groups objecting to giving homosexual couples the choice of using the term marriage. It is also a direct rejection of traditional leaders who wanted the Constitution to be changed rather than the Bill approved. The Bill has passed its first major hurdle. It must now go to the National Assembly and National Council of Provinces before it can be signed into law by the President. Full Business Day report

There were objections to the Bill on all sides. ‘This is a messy piece of legislation, and the ANC did not give us an opportunity to go through the Bill clause by clause before voting,’ said DA spokesperson Tertius Delport, whose party abstained from voting. And according to a report on the News24 site, the ACDP, which opposed the final draft of the legislation, said it was disappointed with the outcome of the parliamentary process. It wanted the Constitution to be amended to protect the sanctity of marriage, said party spokesperson Steve Swart. The legislation – the objective of which is to satisfy the Constitutional Court\'s ruling that Parliament devise a law affording same-sex couples the same legal status and recognition as married heterosexuals – also drew criticism from the gay and lesbian community. The Triangle Project said the legislation was discriminatory in that ‘it allows heterosexuals to get married either under this new legislation or the customary (Marriage) Act, while on the other hand it restricts gays and lesbian to this new legislation,’ said spokesperson Vista Khalipha. Full report on the News24 site