South Africa to appeal against gay marriage court ruling

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa will appeal against a ruling by one of the country's top courts to allow gay marriage so that parliament has time to debate the issue, the government said.

Gays and lesbians scored a victory last month when the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled the official definition of marriage should be expanded to include gay relationships.

Activists cheered the move as a key step toward attaining equal rights. But leading churches said it flouted public opinion in the mainly Christian country and called for a referendum on the divisive issue.

The department of home affairs said it had decided to appeal to the Constitutional Court -- the highest court in the land -- to block the earlier ruling to allow time for a full debate in parliament and at cabinet level.

Spokesman Nkosana Sibuyi said the department could not "pre-empt the process" and had filed its appeal on Wednesday.

He said he expected the cabinet to discuss gay marriage early in 2005 and was "confident" its conclusion would be in line with the spirit of the constitution, which forbids discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation, news agency Sapa reported.

South Africa was the first country in the world to enshrine gay rights in its constitution, which was rewritten after the fall of apartheid in 1994. It already allows gay couples to adopt children and grants gay couples inheritance rights.

But homosexuality is a taboo in many African societies, where it is regarded as un-African.

- REUTERS