Same-sex marriages given the green light

The Constitutional Court has ruled in favour of same-sex marriages. The decision follows a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling last year that said same-sex couples could get married. The ruling also obliges parliament to draft new legislation within a year. In delivering the ruling in Johannesburg this morning Justice Albie Sachs said the common law definition of marriage is declared to be inconsistent with the constitution and invalid to the extent that it does not permit same-sex couples to enjoy the status and benefits it accords heterosexual couples. Courts are now requested to change the common-law definition of marriage from being a union between a man and a woman to a union between two persons.