January 11, 2017

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Friday, September 23, 2016

Same-sex couples shun Bloem

… Choose to travel hundreds of kilometres to go get married away from the City of Roses

Assisting gay couples … Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba said the department has designated offices to conduct same-sex marriage

Same-sex couples have turned up to tie the knot at home affairs offices in Welkom, Kroonstad and other places in the Free State but for some reason have shunned Bloemfontein, The Weekly was told this week.

Even more curious was the fact some Bloemfontein-based same-sex couples have found it better to travel hundreds of kilometres to go get married elsewhere rather than in the City of Roses.

Home Affairs provincial manager Banekele Mayekiso said it was hard to say why Bloemfontein – the province’s biggest population centre — is yet to conduct a single same-sex marriage, while its smaller cousins have registered several of the unions since the ministry of home affairs several weeks ago released a list of offices across the country where gay partners can marry.

But he was quick to point out that it would be wrong to simply conclude that gay couples were avoiding Bloemfontein because officials in the city were more homophobic than elsewhere.

Mayekiso, however, said it was cause for concern that members of the homosexual community in Bloemfontein would find it necessary to travel to other areas to get married.

“We cannot speculate why people staying in Bloemfontein would desire to get married in other parts of the province yet we offer a similar service here … it is a cause for concern that they are not coming through our doors for assistance,” said Mayekiso.

Asked why they did not utilise the Bloemfontein offices and instead opted to go and get married in Bethlehem, 250 km away, gay couple Anthony and Kgositsile Greyling said it was out of fear that they might be subjected to some bigoted behaviour if they tried to tie the knot in the provincial capital.

Instead the interracial couple that got married last Friday said they decided to go do it in Bethlehem the hometown of Anthony, who said the two’s families supported their decision to marry away from Bloemfontein.

“We were afraid that people might be hostile so we both decided to get married in my home town, just to be on the safe side,” Anthony.

Themba and Tiisetso S’thembiso, who got hitched in Welkom last Saturday, said for them it was not out of fear of hostile reception that they decided to make their union official in Welkom.
The two that have been together for 12 years decided to do it in the mining town because that is where their families are based.

“Both our parents are based in Welkom so it was more convenient for us to get married that side rather than in Bloemfontein,” said Themba.

Home Affairs Minister Malusi Gigaba last week said the ministry has published a list of all its offices that conduct same sex marriages to make the process simpler for members of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) community wanting to marry.

Publication of the list followed a meeting in June this year between the department and LGBTI representatives who claimed same-sex couples were being turned away from home affairs offices that claim they don’t conduct such marriages.

The LGBTI representatives had also complained about not having a clear idea of which offices in the country are able to conduct the marriages.

In his statement last week Gigaba said offices appearing on the list have officials ready to conduct same-sex marriages, while those not listed cannot conduct the marriages because officials there had refused to get involved with such unions.

But in the Free State all home affairs offices authorised to conduct marriages can also handle same-sex unions after the department’s provincial offices made sure there was at least an official available at every facility to assist LBGTI couples.

“Some officials made it clear that due to their religious beliefs they would not be able to officiate such marriages and they were excused,” said Mayekiso. “In the offices were we had two officials agreeable to conducting the marriages we had to deploy one to those offices where we had none.”

The home affairs in Bethlehem, Welkom and Kroonstad were among those that have conducted several same-sex marriages, according to Mayekiso.

“These are the three offices in our province where we registered a number of LGBTI marriages,” he said.

Gleo Booysen, from LGBTI rights group Free State Rainbow Seeds, described the designation of offices where same-sex couples can go get married as welcome, if long overdue, as it ensures equal treatment of all citizens regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

“It’s long overdue and we are happy that we can now get the same assistance as everybody else as far as getting married is concerned,” said Booysen. Same-sex marriages, which are also known as gay marriages or civil unions, became legal in South Africa in November 2006. South Africa granted unregistered same-sex cohabitation in 1999.

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