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.
-
Frauds: ‘fantastically stylish’ crime heist caper is a ‘triumph’
The Week Recommends Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker play a pair of ex-cons planning one last job
-
The struggles of Aston Martin
In the Spotlight The car manufacturer, famous for its association with the James Bond franchise, is ‘running out of road’
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rights
The Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain