South African lesbians Franci Schoeman and Bianca Berrios got ”married” two years ago but are now primed for the real thing as same-sex unions become legal for the first time on the continent.
The Anglican pastor who risked earning the church’s wrath by solemnising their union in a ceremony not recognised by law said he would be happy to perform the rites all over again.
”It is something I did and would do again. I believe they love each other and should be taken seriously,” he said, speaking to the media on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, Schoeman and Berrios are readying for a ”bigger and better bachelors’ party” than the first time around before exchanging their I dos.
Parliament’s decision this month to approve same-sex marriages, which must come into force by December 1, was the latest step in the government’s bid to banish discrimination in all its forms after the downfall of apartheid in 1994.
The overwhelming vote for the Bill was guaranteed by the unanimous support of the ruling African National Congress, but the measure remains vehemently denounced by smaller conservative parties.
Across Africa, gays and lesbians are routinely subjected to discrimination and homosexuality is illegal in a number of countries. Robert Mugabe, President of neighbouring Zimbabwe, sparked outrage when he described gays as ”worse than pigs and dogs” several years ago.
Berrios’s and Schoeman’s first wedding was a rushed and casual affair with the pair walking down the aisle in slacks and striped shirts.
The 34-year-old Schoeman still blushes as she recalls how she had asked for Berrios’s hand out of the blue.
”I just came up and said ‘Will you marry me?”’ she recalls, adding that this time round she wanted ”the big bang”.
Berrios (26) has a daughter from a previous marriage who is now old enough to be a flower girl at her wedding.
Schoeman, meanwhile, says she will take Berrios’s surname as it ”is very rare”. She sports a plain wedding band and Berrios a dainty ring adorned by a stone.
The couple have come a long way since their apartheid-era youth when gay sex was illegal and homosexuals and lesbians were often persecuted.
In 1967, South Africa’s then justice minister declared in Parliament: ”We should not allow ourselves to be deceived in thinking that we may casually dispose this viper … it is a proven fact that homosexual instincts make their effects felt on a community if they are allowed to run riot.”
This year, Home Affairs Minister Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula told Parliament while passing the gay marriage Bill that ”never again would any South African … be discriminated against on the basis of colour, creed, culture and sex.”
Meanwhile, Schoeman and Berrios agreed that while the new law was a coup for the gay community, real acceptance from the mainstream was still a long way off.
”I am very happy; we are finally getting somewhere in life. We are being heard,” Berrios said, adding the new legislation made them feel more secure.
After the passing of the marriage Bill, South Africa’s highest court upheld the inheritance rights of same-sex couples in a landmark ruling.
Schoeman and Berrios say they hope it will be easier for them to adopt a child now.
”It is very difficult – adoption agencies are very fussy, you have to have a certain background and unfortunately we don’t qualify,” Berrios said.
”People are encouraged to adopt children, but they find out you are gay and slam the door in your face,” said Schoeman, adding that she would love to adopt a boy. — AFP
