If it weren’t so ominous, we’d all still be laughing at Deputy Minister of Justice Johnny de Lange’s claim that granting same-sex couples the right to marry “could create a huge social cohesion deficit”.
No amount of politically correct gobbledygook can disguise the statement’s homophobia; the only comforting thing is that the bigots who might agree won’t know what the hell he’s on about. Just as well. It’s the sort of euphemism the apartheid state used to conjure up when it was pretending to be kind to the oppressed.
The usually articulate deputy minister recently made his ridiculous statement in an attempt to excuse Parliament’s tardiness at amending the Marriage Act, as ordered by the Constitutional Court. Parliament has until December 2 to add those two little words, “or spouse”, after “husband” in the Act. In so doing, it will afford lesbian and gay people the same dignity, rights and responsibilities as heterosexuals when it comes to marriage.
The Constitutional Court also found that giving same-sex unions this parity would not in any way detract from heterosexual unions, or impinge on or affect the religious ceremonies that sanction them.
De Lange recently told a press briefing by the justice, crime prevention and security cluster that government was dealing with the matter “as sensitively as possible” as there were groups of people who were “strongly opposed to same-sex marriages”.
He added that the issue had divided South Africans and needed to be treated “carefully” so as not to “polarise” society even further. That the deputy minister should even consider tiptoeing around the enshrined rights of one group of South Africans because another may be opposed to these rights is cause for alarm. The issue here is simple: equality.
Would the deputy minister have displayed the same concern or treated “carefully” Christian opposition to Muslim or customary marriage?
Lesbian and gay communities are vulnerable minorities the world over and are like canaries in a mineshaft when it comes to measuring human rights, and values and attitudes to these. Where the dignity, rights and freedoms of lesbian and gay communities are questioned or threatened, you can rest assured other human rights violations also occur.
And in a society as sexist, patriarchal, homophobic and violent as South Africa, it is important to be particularly vigilant. Instead of entertaining those who would deny the rights of others, the Justice Department should embark on an education campaign (not a political campaign) to address conservative constituencies.
If the deputy minister is really concerned about issues that “could create a huge social cohesion deficit” he should apply his mind to areas where these occur with horrific regularity, for example in the grossly unequal relationships between women and men in this country. The fact that one in six women who are beaten or killed has been assaulted by an intimate partner or that — according to a new study — women are most in danger in their own homes is cause for a humungous social cohesion deficit.
So the deputy minister and his department should really not feel threatened or disturbed by a few thousand harmless moffies and dykes wanting to enter legally sanctioned, loving, monogamous, lifelong partnerships (which may, of course, end up in divorce just like heterosexual marriages).
During the past 12 years, South African lesbians and gay men have received little overt political support or public protection. Time and again the Constitutional Court has had to enforce the equality to which this community is entitled. And come December 2, lesbian and gay people will be allowed to marry and enjoy their partnerships the same as everyone else. Because no matter how much the deputy minister plays politics, if Parliament doesn’t add the words “or spouse”, the Constitutional Court will do so automatically.
Get ready to catch the bouquet.