Gay marriage legalized
The week's news at a glance.
Johannesburg
South Africa this week became the first African country to legalize gay marriage. The Civil Union Act gives both homosexual and heterosexual couples the right to contract civil union partnerships that carry the same rights and responsibilities as marriage. Couples in such unions also have the right to call their union a marriage. Parliament passed the law this week to comply with the Constitutional Court, which recently ruled that barring gays from marriage violated their civil rights. "When we attained our democracy, we sought to distinguish ourselves from an unjust painful past, by declaring that never again shall it be that any South African will be discriminated against on the basis of color, creed, culture, and sex," said Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is more
Feature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
-
Trump's drug war is now a real shooting war
Talking Points The Venezuela boat strike was 'not a mere law enforcement action'
-
Book reviews: 'Baldwin: A Love Story' and 'The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces'
Feature A loving James Baldwin biography and the drug crimes of two special ops veterans