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The Constitutional Court has ruled on the rights of gay and lesbian South Africans. They are no different to all South Africans, whose rights are enshrined in the Bill of Rights.

The Department of Home Affairs has been extremely tardy in realising this, and can, quite justifiably, be referred to as the Department of Homophobic Affairs.

Over the past few weeks, the following issues have crossed my desk:

A gay couple arrived at the Department of Home Affairs office in Port Elizabeth, much in love and excited about the prospect of committing to each other through a civil union – only to be told, by the officials at the office, that “we don’t do gay weddings”. Not a single marriage officer was available to the Department to conduct a civil union. The couple was understandably devastated. (I am told, now, that an officer will be deployed from the Free State should any same-sex couple wish to marry anywhere in the Eastern Cape.)
Twin boys were born, amidst much celebration and joy, to a gay couple, utilising the services of a surrogate mother. According to the Children’s Act of 2005: “Any child born of a surrogate mother in accordance with a valid agreement is for all purposes the child of the commissioning parent or parents from the moment of its birth”. However, the Department of Home Affairs’ systems do not allow for the electronic entry of two same-sex identity numbers for the parents. In the case referred to, the surrogate mother had to be registered as the mother, in order to obtain a birth certificate, with one partner to the civil union as the father. The second partner then had to “adopt” the boys from the surrogate mother.
A gay man approached the Department this week to apply for a copy of a marriage (which should read “civil union”) certificate. The forms used by the Department allow for the entry of two names – that of the husband, and that of the wife. Why should a gay man who is part of a civil union have to decide whether he should be classified as the husband or the wife?

The homophobia implied by the Department’s failure to update its systems and forms to cater for civil unions is clearly contrary to Constitutional imperatives. At a personal level, it is an insult to all gays and lesbians.

I have already raised questions with the Minister in this regard.

The Department says: “We Care!” We say: “Prove it!”.