A judicial revolution?<br> The court-led achievement of same-sex marriage in South Africa

Abstract

This article maps the legal developments that led to the adoption of the Civil Union Act, which extended full marriage rights to same-sex couples in South Africa. It points out that this extension of marriage to same-sex couples would not have been possible if it was not for the groundbreaking decisions on sexual orientation discrimination handed down by the South African Constitutional Court over the past ten years. It al so describes the complex legal regime now in place which allows different sex couples to enter into marriage in terms of a traditional Marriage Act or the new Civil Union Act but restricts same-sex couples to entering into marriage in terms of the latter Act. The article concludes that while this extension of marriage rights can be viewed as a legal revolution, some problems remain with the legal regulation of same-sex relationships in South Africa.